Universitetet i Agder

Projects

Agder as a model region in e-health

The project aims to further develop Agder as a region within e-health, based on an already exposed position nationally and internationally. This will lead to very good development conditions for e-health products and projects. Such an exposed position strengthens all parties involved:

Users (citizens) receive better health services both within and outside the health care system.
The business community has a functioning ecosystem both technologically and in relation to competence to develop new adapted products and services that are easy to use.
The health service with municipal services and services at the hospital as well as the doctors get better integrated solutions that strengthen collaboration, division of labor and the development of new modern services.
The university gets access to data, lab and expertise to conduct future-oriented research in a vibrant region that develops dynamically.

The project will develop competence, create meeting places, establish basic infrastructure for integration and testing and create visibility of e-health locally, nationally, and internationally.

AAUKF Annual Report 2019

Project owner / leader: UiA
Project funding from: AAUKF
Contact person: Ragni Macqueen Leifson
Project duration: 2019 - 2023

PhD projects

Completed projects

I2I- From Isolation to Inclusion

Across the NSR many people are experiencing social isolation and/or loneliness. This is a multifaceted problem and finding a solution requires action from multiple agencies for its successful alleviation. The public sector is struggling to address such a complex problem. I2I will focus on innovation in service delivery (including utilising new technology, e.g. serious gaming, apps, chatbots, VR/AR) through bringing organisations together and co-creating solutions with the target groups.

Therefore, the overall objective in I2I is to enhance innovation in social service delivery to improve social inclusion and counteract loneliness in NSR communities and neighbourhoods.

The NSR regions involved will increase the capacity of public authorities to develop innovative services and provide them with new tools and solutions in order to improve social inclusion and tackle loneliness. It aims to do this by making existing services more integrated and improving cross-sector collaboration using a quadruple helix user-centred approach working with service-/co-design methods.

Transnational cooperation enhances both efficiency and promotes broader thinking to stimulate innovation. It provides the testing ground for innovative community-based interventions and tools, creating more effective services for citizens while raising awareness of the issue in the NSR and increasing the innovation capacity of the public sector in regions around the Northsea to deal with social isolation.

Project owner / leader: UiA
Project funding from: Interreg North Sea Region
Contact person: Ragni Macqueen Leifson
Project duration:: 2020 -2022
Web site: https://northsearegion.eu/i2i/
Film: From Isolation to Inclusion

InnArbeid

Demand-driven innovation for the inclusion of people with intellectual disabilities in working life through the use of technology

The inclusion of people with intellectual disabilities in the workplace is limited. It is challenging to find, secure and keep suitable jobs. The majority go directly on to disability income after finishing high school. The InnArbeid project investigates how to improve this transition from school and into a working life.

The aim is to develop services and technology that enable young people with intellectual disabilities to make use of their abilities in the workplace. InnArbeid will also facilitate the transition between high school and working life by assisting in developing and positioning their potential for work.

We have proposed an Action Design Research approach which includes user-need mapping, co-creation, evaluation and implementation through iterative processes whereby users participate in all the stages of development. The method and results will challenge current practices and regulations for education, employment, municipal services and NAV (The Norwegian Labour and Welfare Administration).

User involvement in every project phase will contribute to the innovation of appropriate and applicable solutions as well as providing an anchoring in the region, thus strengthening the possibilities for realization and further implementation. A business model will be developed for the realization of the innovations.

Project owner / leader: UiA
Project funding from: The Research Council of Norway
Contact person: Elin Thygesen
Project duration: 2017-2021
Website: https://innarbeid.uia.no/about-the-project2/

DIPAR

Digital Infrastructure for Robust and Scalable PatientMonitoring in Pandemic Response Situations

The municipalities in Agder were early to offer digital follow-up of patients with symptoms of Covid-19 infection from home. They expanded an existing solution that is in use for digital follow-up of residents with chronic illness. Patients with symptoms can feel safe at home and the burden on the health service can be reduced, and health personnel who are in quarantine can work from home.

The research project DIPAR will support the health service's evaluation of how this solution has worked for users. By involving both patients and healthcare professionals, we will also contribute to improvements and further development of solutions and services. The goal is to use the capabilities of digital tools to be prepared for the next wave of infection or pandemics. New types of patient-generated data and new sensor technologies coupled with artificial intelligence can contribute to less labor-intensive and more accurate monitoring of disease progression, which can be useful even when we do not have a pandemic situation.

Project owner / leader: UiA
Project funding from: The Research Council of Norway
Contact person: Margunn Aanestad
Project duration: 2020-2022

TELMA

Joint telemedicine solution Agder

TELMA is an innovation and research project with 6 partners: Kristiansand municipality, Farsund municipality and Risør municipality, Sørlandets hospital, UiA and Siemens Healthcare / Open Tele.

The project will contribute to the development of a telemedicine service for patients with chronic diseases such as diabetes, COPD and heart failure and for people with mental health problems. The project will develop algorithms and technical solutions for patients with complex disorders. Furthermore, research on and realization of gains will be carried out through the use of the Action Design Research method.

Project owner / manager: Kristiansand municipality
Project funding from: The Research Council of Norway
Contact person: Carl Erik Moe
Project duration: 2016-2018
Website: www.telma.no

3P

Patients and Professionals in Productive Teams

Patients, authorities, and professionals express a great need for a radical reorganization of health services for patients with long-term and complex needs. The 3P project will support the development of a safe comprehensive health and care service for this group of patients. The 3P project will form a knowledge base for transforming a profession-centered health system into a patient-centered system based on experiences from four pilots in Norway and Denmark.

Project owner / manager: University Hospital Northern Norway
Project funds from: Health trusts
Contact person: Rune Fensli
Project duration: 2015-2020
Website: https://ehealthresearch.no/en/projects/3p

In For Care

Informal care and voluntary assistance: Innovation in service delivery in the North Sea Region

InForCare is an EU project with 10 partners from 6 different countries in the North Sea region. The project's overall objective is to contribute to innovation in public health and care services by strengthening informal and voluntary care provision. In co-creation with users, methods will be developed to strengthen collaboration using existing and new technological solutions.

Project owner / leader: UiA
Project funds from: Interreg North Sea Region VB
Contact person: Ragni MacQueen Leifson
Project duration: 2017-2019

ALL

Agder Living Lab (ALL)

Living Lab is a research concept. The concept is based on a systematic approach with the user at the center that involves both research and innovation processes. The user must be an active participating actor, not only as an object of research, but also as a source of innovation and innovation.

Project owner / manager: Grimstad municipality
Project funds from: The Norwegian Directorate of Health
Contact person: Santiago Martinez
Project duration: 2015-2018

M4ALMO

The alarm reception of the future

The M4ALMO project will study functionality, service models and technology support for the digital alarm center of the future for receiving and following up alarms and alerts from various welfare technology solutions as well as telephone inquiries from home residents. The project will make an important contribution to the elderly care of the future by enabling a safe old age in one's own home and ensuring a knowledge platform for future regional pilots at emergency reception centers under national auspices.

Project owner / manager: Health network Lister v / Kvinesdal municipality
Project funds from: Regional Research Fund
Contact person: Rune Fensli
Project duration: 2015-2017

U4H

United4Health

The project has focused on patients with COPD and the goal has been to improve the safety of patients who have recently experienced a worsening of their condition. Through close follow-up at home after a hospital stay, the number of re-admissions was reduced. The telemedicine solution that has been used by the patients, developed by the Center for eHealth and Devoteam, has received very good coverage of the main project, especially due to good interoperability. Formal partners from Agder in United4Health are SSHF and UiA at the center for eHealth. 27 municipalities have also been included in the Agder project.

Project duration: 2013-2015

IAge

The main goal of the project is to strengthen the opportunities for people over the age of 65 to participate actively in society and societal development, as well as to stay longer at work than they might otherwise want, using computers and ICT tools. 18 partners from six countries in the interregional Northsea cooperation have participated in the project.