Recent years have seen a dramatic increase in the number of infectious diseases in humans caused by antibiotic-resistant bacteria (Jones, Nature, vol. 451).
In recent decades, several new infectious diseases have appeared that involve transmission from animals to humans. These include HIV, SARS, MRSA and Avian flu. Lisette van Gemert-Pijnen, a professor working in the area of eHealth at the University of Twente, has been awarded a substantial grant for research in this area.
Two INTERREG V A projects, EurHealth-1Health and health-i-care, were launched on 28/29 November, with the goal of combating infectious diseases. Around 50 individual parties were involved in both projects, including knowledge institutions, healthcare facilities and 30 SMEs – in the Netherlands and Germany – who are keen to promote the safety of healthcare. The project leader for both projects is Prof. Alex W. Friedrich, Head of the Department of Medical Microbiology and Infection Control at the University Medical Center Groningen (UMCG). The University of Twente is one of the largest parties in this project. It is also the only technical university involved. Professor Lisette van Gemert-Pijnen, Professor of Persuasive Health Technology at the University of Twente’s Faculty of Behavioural, Management & Social Sciences (BMS) points out that: “We want to use our expertise in the areas of eHealth and GeoHealth to make a substantial contribution to the study of infections caused by highly resistant microorganisms (HRMO) and to the prevention of antibiotic resistance in humans and animals.”
A total grant of €11.9 million has been made available for both projects. The University of Twente will receive a substantial part of each project’s funding, to support research over the next four years, involving two PhD students and a postdoc. According to Prof. van Gemert-Pijnen “Both Edith Schippers (the Minister of Health, Welfare and Sport) and the Executive Board have indicated that, in this region in particular, there needs to be a greater focus on this issue. Twente’s combination of intensive farming and a relatively large group of frail elderly people means that there is a high risk of such infections in this province. There is also a lot of intensive farming on the other side of our common border with Germany.”
EurHealth-1Health project
The EurHealth-1Health project focuses on one of the greatest challenges facing the healthcare sector – the prevention of infections that can no longer be treated using antibiotics. To this end, it is necessary to tackle the entire chain of emergence of antibiotic resistance. This can only be done using an integrated “1Health concept”, in which people’s health and that of animals are seen as being directly linked to one another, and determined – to some extent – by the environment. The population is ageing, comorbidity is on the rise, and susceptibility to infections is increasing. Shared information and joint educational programmes in the healthcare sector, the veterinary sector, and the agricultural sector are of great importance.
Decision-making and eHealth technology
The purpose of the University of Twente’s involvement – via the faculty of Behavioural, Management and Social Sciences – is to support supra-sectoral decision-making by means of eHealth technology. Over the next few years, two PhD students will be designing decision-making models based on data derived from infections, outbreaks and the environment. These models will be used to enable parties in the healthcare sector to operate in a proactive and targeted way. This could involve the MRSA outbreaks in nursing homes, hospitals, and intensive farming, for instance.
Predictive models
Lisette van Gemert-Pijnen explains that “Various fellow researchers at the Faculty of Geo-Information Science and Earth Observation (ITC) have a great deal of experience with the methods used to develop predictive models based on geo-data. In addition, the Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Mathematics and Computer Science (EEMCS) has in-house expertise in the use of sensor technology to analyse mobility data. These can be combined with our insights in the field of behavioural science, to deliver user-targeted technological support. This is because, when developing technology, we always cooperate with the users of the system, right from the start. In future, healthcare providers can be instructed about the risks of infection hazards in good time. They can also be given real-time support in the form of big-data-driven, targeted advice for decision-making.
health-i-care project
The main aim of this project is to promote cooperation between the elements of ‘expertise - care - company’, with a view to preventing HRMO infections and antibiotic resistance. In the health-i-care project, Dutch and German business-community experts have joined forces with science and the healthcare sector. Prof. van Gemert-Pijnen points out that “We are exploring ways of using eHealth (via eLearning programmes) in training courses for parties in the healthcare sector. The University of Twente will be assigning various individuals (including a post-doc) to research this issue in the upcoming years. The University of Twente acts as a knowledge partner for SMEs and spin-off companies, both in the initial phase of an innovation’s development process and during the actual marketing of eHealth services and products.”
Cross-border activities
During the next few years, both of these projects will be implemented in the border region between the Netherlands and Germany, building on the cross-border university, hospital, nursing home and GP care network that has been developed in the course of previous projects (MRSA net; EurSafety) over the past eight years.
eHealth
eHealth is an important theme at the University of Twente. In her teaching and research work as a professor of eHealth, Lisette van Gemert-Pijnen focuses on the design, implementation and evaluation of technology used in healthcare to improve the quality of health and safety. eHealth is covered in the following programmes: Psychology, Health Sciences, Communication Studies, Biomedical Technology and Technical Medicine (TM). A new addition at the University of Twente is the Master's track in Monitoring and Persuasive Coaching, an interdisciplinary joint venture between Health Psychology (in BMS, the Faculty of Behavioural, Management and Social Sciences), EEMCS, and Health Sciences. The students will have access to real data generated by both projects, and will translate this into persuasive coaching for the purpose of decision-making.
GeoHealth
According to Prof. van Gemert-Pijnen, the University of Twente’s focus on GeoHealth is a relatively new phenomenon. In this field, she cooperates closely with researchers from the ITC and EEMCS faculties, as well as with scientists from the University of Waterloo (Canada). The central question here is always how data obtained from the monitoring of infections, behaviour or mobility can be translated into a personalized persuasive coaching system. Here, the use of the word ‘personalized’ indicates that the focus is on the end user.
Further details
For further details concerning these projects, please contact the Press Officer, Martine van Hillegersberg.
