DHEZ news

DHEZ seminar series

Coming up: Simulation in Healthcare Education; DHEZ and Tech House Case Study

Wednesday 29 May 1pm – 2pm

With our speakers:

Hasnehn Haider - Immersive Learning Education Technologist
Emma Tretton - Module Leader Yr. 1 Practice Learning, Adult Nursing
Nick Cragg – Audio Visual Specialist

See the full schedule of DHEZ seminars and book your place.

Presentation taking place in DHEZ lecture theatre

Recent news

Air Pollution and Public Health Research Network event at DHEZ

On the 15 November 2023, the DHEZ hosted the first ‘Air Pollution & Public Health’ research networking event organised by Dr Jacobo Elies (ICT, Faculty of Life Sciences) with the aim of bringing together experts from different academic specialities and professional sectors.

Read the full article, which includes summaries of each presentation, the background to the event and how you can get involved.

Attendees at the Air pollution and public Health event watching a presentation

The Pain Clinic at DHEZ

Pain Association Scotland are working in partnership with University of Bradford to help support people with chronic pain at monthly meetings, hosted in the DHEZ from Sept 2023 to June 2024. The sessions will guide participants to use a self-management approach and help them to cope better by looking at topics such as understanding pain, sleep, stress, anxiety, acceptance and flare ups. Sessions will be professionally run and observed at a distance by students to help them understand more about the management of the condition.

We caught up with Professor Sonia Cottom, Director of Pain Association Scotland, to find out more about the partnership.

Read the full story.

Amir Sharif, Sonia Cottom and Phil Sizer with the Pain Clinic banner — Prof Amir Sharif with Prof Sonia Cottom and Phil Sizer from Pain Association Scotland.

Pain Management Clinic

DHEZ are proud to host this series of events, in partnership with Pain Association Scotland to help support people with chronic pain and helping students to understand what it's like living with chronic pain.

The aim is to help people with chronic pain using a self management approach. Sessions will be professionally run and observed at a distance by students.

The Pain Management Clinic will run from 10:30am to 4:00pm

Wednesday 11 October 2023
Wednesday 8 November 2023
Wednesday 13 December 2023
Wednesday 10 January 2024
Wednesday 14 February 2024
Wednesday 13 March 2024
Wednesday 10 April 2024
Wednesday 8 May 2024
Wednesday 12 June 2024

Places are limited so booking is required. To book a place email info@painassociation.com or call on 0800 783 6059

DHEZ profiled on Universities UK website

Universities UK recently highlighted University Enterprise Zones (UEZs) and how they can contribute to the government goal to make the UK a science and technology superpower by 2030. The Digital Health Enterprise Zone was singled out for its work supporting wider business communities as well as our students and health and social care partners.

Read the article on Universities UK, plus a further article on the site going in to more detail about UEZs, using DHEZ as a case study.

PhD Research findings presented as animation

Oladayo Bifarin, PhD at the Centre for Applied Dementia Studies, has worked with the Digital Working Academy based at the University of Bradford to produce a short animation to illustrate the findings of his project Perceptions and experiences of caregivers of older relatives in mainland China - a multigenerational study.

Oladayo explains his reasons for producing the video:

"I wanted to make key findings accessible to general public to raise awareness around the need for culturally sensitive interventions and reinforce co-production strategies with family caregivers with the hope that it shapes future discourses around care for older relatives with a specific reference to Chinese society."

Watch the full video, right, and find out more on Oladayo Bifarin's postgraduate profile page.

Award winning app for plaster cast patients

In October 2021, Charlene Brown and Ben Gracey, Plaster Technicians at Bradford Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust were presented with a national Nursing Times Award at a prestigious event in London hosted by BBC Breakfast’s Naga Munchetty and His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales. The award was for the use of Technology and Data in Nursing and related to their innovative development of a mobile app, accessed via a QR code embedded in a patient’s plaster.

The award was given in recognition of Charlene and Ben’s quick response to patient empowerment and aftercare, by designing a mobile app for plaster cast patients to access as part of their treatment journey. Patients are able to view information, pictures, and videos that help them to better understand their plaster and how to look after it. Built up from years of experience in dealing with patient aftercare of plasters, the team were able to address all the regular problems a patient might encounter and provide targeted advice and guidance.

Display table showing plaster casts and the plaster cast QR code stickers — An exhibition stand showing a plaster cast, the stickers and how they work.

Charlene and Ben worked with Ahmed Sher Malik and Anna Laurika, two University of Bradford media and computing graduates assigned to the project by the Working Academy scheme. Charlene and Ben also worked with Joran and his supervisor Dr Takao Maruyama from the faculty of Management, Law and Social Sciences. Joran Laisina was selected by the University’s Digital Health Enterprise Zone to evaluate the impact of the technology.

Simon Couth, Head of the Working Academy said "This PlasterRoom QR code mobile web app was a brilliant example of how collaborative working for digital health innovation can be both fun and productive. Charlene and Ben were passionate and determined to see their idea come to fruition.“

Professor Liz Breen, DHEZ Director commented on DHEZ’s involvement in the project “The evaluation of health improvement projects using digital solutions within the NHS provides an excellent research and teaching opportunity for our students. This project is amazingly beneficial to our patient community and the team deserved to be commended for their efforts.”

Having the QR code on the plaster cast linked to the app resulted in an 85% reduction in visits to hospital and a 75% reduction in phone calls about casts. Charlene stated that “The early data indicates that the investment made to produce the technology will soon be offset by the savings in staffing resource.”

This initiative also won a government Smarter Working Lives Award for best small project. The smarter working lives celebrates innovation, collaboration and excellence. It is a platform to recognise the significant achievements made towards Smarter Working and the commitment demonstrated by individuals, teams and organisations to drive positive change.

Watch our video on the PlasterRoom project to find out more.