Brighton and Hove Digital Health Living Lab

The aim of this project is to create a tool, an engine, where a range of stakeholders can get tailored value depending on their needs and ambitions.

The residents - contribute to health innovation in a new way. They get the opportunity to help other residents and can be a key partners in inspiring health innovation for the greater good. They get access to new technology and will see new possibilities before others – they can get early access to new services before they go to market.

The council - have the opportunity to use the Lab for inspiration in innovating new services for the future. The aim is to create sustainable welfare solutions for the general population across Brighton and Hove. The staff can test new services and approaches in delivering welfare services to the residents living in Leach Court and nearby. The staff will also gain knowledge and in delivering healthcare with technology embedded.

Academia - are able to utilise the Lab for research and training purposes. It can act as a clinical placement opportunity for both undergraduate and postgraduate students and also a field for research projects on digital health.

When Leach Court has prove itself of good value to the different stakeholders, the next step could be to create new Living Labs across Brighton and Hove. With new resident target groups and new issues to solve, in order to get an even broader scope for innovating healthcare in the future.

September 2017 to September 2018

This project builds on work that started as part of the Leading Places initiative, a collaboration between the University of Brighton, Sussex, Kent, Surrey, Sussex Academic Health Science Network, Brighton and Hove City Council and Brighton and Hove Clinical Commissioning Group. 

Leading places is a national initiative which aims to set up and develop meaningful relationships between universities and regional ecosystems. Brighton is one of eight ‘Leading Places’ pilots in the UK, and is trialling innovative ways to promote healthier, more independent ageing.

Brighton’s project aims were to support the development of strategies in self-managed care for older people, to identify ways to prevent or delay them moving to more intensive care programmes. This was done through community-focused research by the partners at supported housing development Leach Court.

Dr Theo Fotis, Principle Lecturer in Nursing at the University of Brighton’s School of Health Sciences, successfully secured funding from Kent Surrey Sussex Academic Health Science Network for a Darzi Fellow to work on a ‘Digital Health Test Bed’ for a year.

This project is ongoing and involves develops a living lab in the City of Brighton and Hove, where a network of technical champions will focus on testing different digital devices and applications to reduce social isolation and remotely monitor vital signs, activities and emotions of older members of the community.

The initial pilot project was chosen because projected levels of demand for adult social care services outstrip the city council’s available resources and measures are being explored to support the most vulnerable residents in the city, to help them to remain as independent as possible.

The Universities of Brighton and Sussex have long standing working relationships across the city with health and social care providers.

The Leading Places programme shines a spotlight on the potential to elevate these relationships to a more strategic level.

The project involved Brighton and Hove City Council and the University of Sussex working together with the University of Brighton to draw on the institution’s expertise in pharmacy, allied health, digital design and architecture.