UK Partner
Aamir Amin, Senior Lecturer Department of Organizations, Systems and People (OSP), Business and Law
Ukraine Partner
Vira Liubchenko, Professor Faculty Software Engineering Department, Institute of Computer Science
Co-Investigators
Eleonora Zabarna, Head of Department of Oil-and-Gas and Chemical Machines Building, Institute of Digital Technologies, Design and Transport
Project objectives
The project maps with the priority vertical of ‘digital health’. One of the major issues in a conflict setting such as Ukraine is citizen access to healthcare. During and post-war, the government of Ukraine will not only be dealing with the lack of healthcare infrastructure but also the professionals. It has been argued that war increases the overall healthcare cost as it affects the physical and mental health of those directly exposed to the conflict (Sabes-Figuera et al., 2012). To mitigate this cost, digital healthcare provides a risk-free and cost-effective alternative. Digital healthcare initiatives such as mHealth and telehealth are relatively low-resource platforms and can support awareness and outreach (Asi & Williams, 2018).
According to the proponents of digital healthcare, it helps in reducing the healthcare expenditures (Rahimi, 2019). In a nutshell, the diffusive nature of digital healthcare tools can not only benefit individuals living in conflict-affected areas (Asi & Williams, 2018) such as Ukraine, it can also contribute towards the economic development of the country.
Project goals
One of the pressing concerns of a government is to provide healthcare to its citizens during the conflict. War leads to dire consequences for the healthcare system of a country (Martineau et al., 2017). However, digital health tools (i.e., telemedicine, mobile health, public health awareness campaigns, telepsychiatry and electronic medical records) have the ability to address healthcare delivery issues in war-torn areas (Bowsher et al., 2021) such as Ukraine.
Currently, there are a few digital health initiatives underway in Ukraine such as Ukraine TeleHelp, Doctor Online and Helping Hand. However, their adoption as well as efficacy has not been investigated. It is important to understand the adoption and efficacy for various reasons:
• According to Bowsher et al. (2021), currently, digital health protocols and delivery of service have been developed by volunteer organizations on an ad-hoc basis.
• Once the adoption and efficacy are understood, it shall pave the way to recommend appropriate techniques and protocols for quality digital healthcare in Ukraine.
In order to achieve the above and develop an evidence base, it is also important to compare different formats and methods of digital healthcare such as SMS, videoconferencing, web chat or other platforms in relation to the demographic, geographic and other relevant factors. Hence the proposed project aims to:
(i) Understand the adoption and efficacy of existing formats and initiatives of digital healthcare in Ukraine
(ii) Based on the good practices in digital healthcare in UK, recommend appropriate protocols for the delivery and synergy of digital healthcare.
The Ukrainian partner shall contribute greatly to the project by assisting in the collection of relevant data as well as with the knowledge of the Ukrainian demographics.
Role of each Partner
UK Partner responsible for:
• Overall management of the project
• Reviewing the existing best practices in UK Digital Healthcare
• Development of recommendations
Ukraine Partners responsible for:
• Collection of data with focus groups
• Reviewing of existing digital healthcare in Ukraine
• Development of recommendations
Timing
Project Start Date: 1 st February 2023
Project End Date: 31 st August 2023
Expected results
1. Journal Publication (International Journal of the Digital Human or Digital Health (Sage)
2. Short Report Recommendations for the Ministry of Health (Ukraine)
3. News Article (Ukraine)
