On the Design of Personal Health Technologies for Mental Disorder

This seminar is co-organised by UCLIC and UCL IDH

Abstract:

Mental disorders like depression and bipolar disorder impose a very high societal burden in terms of cost, lost productivity, morbidity, suffering, and mortality, and is a leading cause of disability and disease burden worldwide.  According to EU, depression-related diseases are among the most pressing public health concern today, and account for more than 7% of all estimated health and premature mortality costs in Europe, only exceeded by heart disease and cancer. According to WHO, mental health is the fastest growing chronic disease and is one of the leading causes to disability worldwide.

In this talk I will present our research into the design of personal health technologies for patients suffering from mental disorders. Based on research done as part of the EU-funded MONARCA project, I will present the user-centred design of the technology and present results from clinical pilot trials. I will also share our experience in being part of “real” randomized clinical trial that seeks to establish clinical evidence for the efficacy of personal health technology in improving treatment outcome. I will reflect upon the challenges of combining a user-centred, agile, flexible design process with a rigours clinical trial.

About the speaker:

Jakob E. Bardram, PhD, is a Professor at the Technical University of Denmark (DTU) where he directs the Copenhagen Center for Health Technology, which is co-organized with the Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, at the University of Copenhagen (KU-SUND), where he is also an adjunct professor. He is the co-founder, board member, and Chief Scientific Officer  (CSO) of Monsenso ApS. His main research areas are human-computer interaction (HCI) and user interface software technology (UIST), software architecture, pervasive computing, and pervasive healthcare. 

This seminar is co-organised by UCL Interaction Centre (UCLIC) and UCL Institute of Digital Health  (UCL IDH).

UCLIC is a world leading Centre of Excellence in Human-Computer Interaction teaching and research, studying interactions between people and technology, drawing on the best scientific traditions in Computer Science and Human Sciences, and working collaboratively with the research community and industry.

Frontiers in Digital Health is a monthly seminar series invites keynote speakers from across UCL, other academic institutions or external organisations to share their expertise and knowledge to researchers with a broad interest in digital health.  The topics will alternate from a computing to a health focus. Please contact Delmiro if you have any questions: delmiro.fernandez-reyes@ucl.ac.uk

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