Researcher Jodi Sturge from the University of Twente (ET faculty and TechMed Centre) has been awarded funding through the NWO Hop-On Call for Researchers Based in Ukraine. The grant enables a Ukrainian researcher to join her ongoing research project on hospital-at-home care for older adults.
The funding scheme is designed to support Ukrainian researchers in expanding their professional networks within Dutch academia. In total, nine collaborations between Dutch and Ukrainian researchers have been funded in this round.
The University of Twente project builds on the international Ageing Right Care(fully) (ARC) project, funded by the 2023 THCS EU Horizon Europe Research and Innovation Programme, which explores how integrated care at home for older adults can be improved. The new collaboration focuses specifically on Hospital at Home services, where hospital-level care is delivered in a patient’s own home.
Research on hospital-at-home care in times of crisis
The Ukrainian research partner, Dr O.O. Filipets of Bukovinian State Medical University, will investigate how hospital-at-home services operate during times of war and crisis. The research will examine how technology and the built and social environment is used to support and treat older adults living at home both within and beyond conflict zones.
Researchers in Ukraine will be trained in the methods developed within the ARC project to map interactions within healthcare systems. By collecting comparable data in both countries, the team will be able to analyse differences and similarities in the organisation and delivery of care.
Learning from healthcare innovation in Ukraine
“This collaboration provides an opportunity to contribute to research with direct humanitarian relevance for older adults. What matters most to me is that we are not producing knowledge about the Ukrainian healthcare system, but producing knowledge together with Ukrainian clinicians. At the same time, the project enables Ukrainian researchers to develop new research skills and build international connections,” says Sturge.
The collaboration will also bring a frontline perspective on delivering healthcare at home under extreme conditions. “Together with colleagues at Bukovinian State Medical University, we will explore how healthcare professionals, patients and families manage hospital-to-home transitions during wartime. This helps us understand how systems adapt, where they break down, and how people find solutions when standard care pathways or technologies are no longer available.”
According to Sturge, researchers and healthcare professionals in the Netherlands can learn a great deal from innovations that emerge out of necessity. “In Ukraine, older adults, families and healthcare professionals have had to find new ways of delivering and receiving care when infrastructure, tools and routines are disrupted. These experiences reveal what is truly essential in hospital-to-home care for older adults and can help us rethink and strengthen healthcare systems across Europe.”
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