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Research & Development Request

Horizon 2020 SC1-BHC-24-2020: End-users sought for information and communication technology (ICT) tool for improving the treatment and quality of life of elderly people with multimorbid diseases

Country of Origin: France
Reference Number: RDFR20190905001
Publication Date: 5 September 2019

Summary

A multinational consortium piloted by a French university answers the SC1-BHC-24-2020 call by proposing an innovative ICT based device that gathers all experts (gerontologists, oncologists ...) interfering in the therapy of elderly patients suffering from a multimorbid disease. This tool shall permit to coordinate each action on each patient's disease case. The consortium is looking for potential end-users (acquainted with gerontology and multimorbidity) to test the tool under a R&D agreement.

Description

Nowadays about 50 million citizens of the European Union (EU) suffer from multimorbid diseases. The most concerned layer of the population are elderly people. For instance 65% of persons aged between 65 and 84 years show multimorbidity. The patients' pathway is often lengthy and difficult because the current clinical approach consists in the sequence of separate treatments that do not take into account the patient's disease pattern in its globality. As the ageing of the European population is progressing day by day, the development of performant and novel tools to coordinate the different interventions on the multimorbid patient and to have a global disease picture becomes a necessity.



A multinational consortium (France, Germany, Netherlands, Belgium) of acknowledged health actors (SMEs, universities and research centres), conducted by a French university, is willing to address this challenge by responding to the Horizon 2020 SC1-BHC-24-2020 call. 

The overall objective of the proposal is to improve the multimorbid disease suffering patients' quality of life while reducing the treatments' economic and social costs by delivering a patient-centred, inclusive, interactive and tailored ICT tool. This tool will be especially dedicated to the treatment of cancer in connection with other diseases (multimorbidity). The latter will permit an optimal coordination of the patient's treatment by including him/her as well as all intervening parties in the therapy.

The ICT device will provide real-time clinical data to all actors involved in the patient's pathway. Furthermore, the patient will be able to operate weekly reports via this tool to furnish data about his/her clinical picture. Moreover, instant or periodic webmeetings between the relevant people can be organised. The tool will also provide self-management advice for the patient. 



The consortium is currently looking for several end-users who accept to test and validate the tool in realistic environment. These structures (hospital, rest homes or any other structure specialised in gerontology) shall be in constant contact with patients. Their concrete feed-back on the device shall permit to adapt and refine it so that it will be suitable for a lot of clinical structures and a large panel of patients.



Expressions of interest from the Baltic countries and Eastern Europe are most welcome. 

Other eligible countries are of course welcome, too.



The deadline of the call is the 24th September 2019

The reception of expressions of interest is open until the 21st September 2019.

Advantages and Innovations

The proposal's outcome will be a performant ICT based platform that will gather all active parties involved in the therapy of a patient suffering from multibordid disease.

This innovative device will be:

> inclusive (patient is stringly implicated)

> patient-centred (all experts are focused on the patient's global case)

> cooperative/cross-sectoral (implication of different actors: physicians, nurses, experts, patient, ...)

> cost-saving (only necessary and pertinent therapies will be applied thanks to the precedent coordination via the device)

> life quality improving (e.g. useless hospitalisations will be avoided)

Stage Of Development

Proposal under development

Requested partner

The searched partners shall be public or private organisms (hospitals, rest homes, assistance centres for elderly people, ...) dealing with the issues of gerontology in relation with multimorbidity.

These structures shall be able to test and validate the novel ICT device in a realistic and patient-friendly environment to furnish precious data which will permit to adapt/refine/tailor the tool in the best way so that it will be suitable for a large panel of patients and experts.

These actions will take place in the framework of research and development (R&D) agreement.