The Digital Health Design Challenge is an annually recurring funding program of the Digital Health Design Living Lab.
The theme of this year's edition is "Health Companions of Tomorrow: Co-Creating Interactions between Human and Technology".
Discover three inspiring cases that demonstrate how people and technologies can work together in healthcare. Working in interdisciplinary teams, you will design solutions that enable harmonious and effective interactions while critically examining the limitations of these approaches.
We look forward to seeing you on 7 December 2024!
09.00
Arrival and registration
Entrance Hall Toni Areal
09.30 – 10:15
Welcome and introduction Healthathon and Digital Health Design Challenge 2024
3.K01 Auditorium 1
10.15
Break
10.30–11.00
Presentation of the 1st case and Q&A session
11.00–11.30
Presentation of the 2nd case and Q&A session
11.30–12.00
Presentation of the 3rd case and Q&A session
12.00
Lunch
13.00–17.45
Thematic in-depth workshops with team building, idea generation and project development
Project Rooms
17.45–18.00
Closing, farewell and group photo
3.K01 Auditorium 1
Case 1: Further development of the serious moral game «uMed»
How can both the player experience and the didactic effectiveness of "uMed" be improved?
The serious moral game "uMed: Your Choice" is a digital learning game designed to support ethics education in the field of medicine, which has enriched medical ethics teaching at the University of Zurich since 2018. The game unfolds its ethical-didactic value through the intertwining of self-study, meaning individual play, and joint discussion of player experiences and the issues raised during gameplay. As a complex teaching/learning tool, "uMed" integrates didactic, content-related, and design objectives and offerings at various levels, consistently providing numerous points of reference for adaptations and improvements that arise from practical application. Accordingly, during the challenge, potential approaches for further developing "uMed" will be identified, focusing on both the user perspective and the didactic question of implementing the relevant learning objectives.
Dr. Tobias Eichinger, Research Associate and Teaching Coordinator at the Institute of Biomedical Ethics and History of Medicine, University of Zurich
Case 2: Use of digital technologies to improve the assessment of decision-making capacity in patients with Anorexia Nervosa.
How can we design a digital tool that supports healthcare professionals in improving their assessment of decision-making capacity in patients with Anorexia Nervosa?
The assessment of decision-making capacity (DMC) in patients is crucial in medical practice. For example, whether life-saving artificial nutrition can be provided against the expressed wishes of patients with Anorexia Nervosa depends on this assessment. However, essential clinical and ethical aspects are often overlooked in current procedures, leading to subjective and inconsistent evaluations. Digital tools offer the opportunity to improve transparency, consistency, and efficiency in decision-making capacity assessments by promoting self-reflection among clinicians regarding their own values and biases.
The goal of this challenge is to enable efficient, ethically grounded DMC assessments by developing a prototype of a digital tool to enhance the U-Doc [1], a tool proposed by Hermann et al. for decision-making capacity evaluations, and adapting it for the case of Anorexia Nervosa. Such an adaptation is sensible due to the specific characteristics of the disorder, which make DMC assessments particularly challenging. Patients with Anorexia Nervosa often communicate their treatment refusals not only coherently but also eloquently, in contrast to, for example, patients with acute psychoses. While limitations in decision-making capacity are often present, they are subtle and can be overlooked by inadequately trained professionals. Individuals with Anorexia Nervosa often exhibit pronounced cognitive rigidity, which can be so severe that the affected person is unable to envision behaving differently than what aligns with their eating disorder symptoms.
Dr. med. Dr. sc. med. Anna Lisa Westermair, Clinical Ethics Unit, University Hospital Basel; University Psychiatric Clinics Basel; University Children’s Hospital Basel; Geriatric University Medicine Felix Platter, Basel; Institute of Biomedical Ethics and History of Medicine, University of Zurich.
Case 3: AI companion app empowering parents and caregivers of children with autism with instant and personalized support, enabling effective care.
How might we develop a functional humanized AI bot prototype that demonstrates a delightful user experience leveraging the latest AI technology within a five-month time horizon?
Children with mild autism spectrum disorder (ASD)and related conditions like ADHD require a well-coordinated support system involving parents, therapists, and school assistants to thrive. Behavioral therapy is the most effective approach, particularly parent-mediated interventions for children aged 3-12, where parents are trained to deliver therapy. These approaches leverage neuroplasticity during early development, making them highly impactful. However, many parents struggle to apply these techniques effectively due to a lack of structured support and guidance.Additionally, care coordination between therapists, parents, and schools is often fragmented, leading to inconsistent outcomes. With the right support, including better communication and collaboration among caregivers, children with ASD and ADHD can make significant progress. Addressing these gaps in care coordination is crucial for improving long-term developmental outcomes for these children and providing parents with the tools they need to effectively support their child's growth.
Alexander Klein, CEO & Project Lead AutismCare
The DHD Living Lab Digital Health Design Challenge provides a maximum of 5 months of support for the elaboration and development of outstanding projects that have been created in interdisciplinary teams (nursing, medicine, medical ethics, health sciences, design, etc.) during the Healthathon, the kick-off event, and have great potential for strengthening the digital transformation of the healthcare system.
Start-up funding for projects (funding pot CHF 30,000 + expert mentoring):
– Idea development, conception, prototyping, and design of solutions
– Conception and/or implementation of a case study
– Development of a third-party funding application
The project must have a content-related connection to the established thematic focus (2024: "Health Companions of Tomorrow: Co-Creating Interactions between Human and Technology") and is based on one of the cases offered by the project partners.
Applications for funding can be submitted by Bachelor's, Master's, and PhD students; members of the mid-level faculty, including researchers, post-docs, research assistants, teaching staff, etc.; and practitioners with and without management qualifications. Ideally, egalitarian teams are formed with representatives from the various disciplines of medical ethics, health sciences, and design.
07.12.2024
Healthathon, presentation of the main topics, team building
07.01.2025 12.00 (MEZ)
Deadline for submission of project applications for the funding program
07.02.2025
Announcement of funded projects and start of funding period
11.04.2025
Interim presentations
16.06.2025
Project completion, final presentation, end of funding period
Download, read and complete the following documents and submit them on time to team@dhdll.ch:
Does a team member have to be employed by a consortium partner institution at the time of submission or can an application also be submitted as an alumnus?
Both options are possible; at least one team member must have a current or past connection to one of the consortium partner institutions.
Does the person responsible for the project have to be associated with a consortium partner institution?
No, only one team member must belong to a consortium partner institution, but it been not be the project lead.
Does a written confirmation of the desired mentor have to be available before submission?
Not necessarily, several desired mentors can also be specified. It is also possible to specify the desired competencies, and we can recommend a suitable person.
Can an external mentor who is not part of the DHD Living Lab be chosen?
Yes, but the mentor's expenses must be included in the submitted project budget.
Do cooperation partners have to submit a LOI (Letter of Intent) at the time of submission?
At best, yes. It is advisable to clarify the expectations and service provision within the cooperation before submission and to record them in writing. If no LOI is available by the submission deadline, the current status of the cooperation and the intended involvement of the partner in the project should be described.
The theme of last year's edition was "Decision Making in Healthcare". Two projects were successfully completed and applications for further research are currently being submitted. The following aftermovie gives an insight into the Healthathon, the kick-off event for the Digital Health Design Challenge: