A technology shift is happening in healthcare today. In the next 10 years, a bigger shift in health and social care technologies will happen, and this shift will come from a new generation.
Liverpool Life Sciences UTC has challenged its students to be this generation of healthcare innovators and face the increasing financial and social impact on the NHS of an expanding population of people aged 65 and over.
As part of the second Build My Future Festival, students in Year 10 worked as teams to devise concepts for new Life Enhancing Technologies. They were challenged to design a product that would support independence, ensure safety and enable older people to access care and support when they need it without the dependence on repeat GP appointments.
Students had the opportunity to hear from a range of local leaders in the sector, including Paul Clitheroe of the More Independent, CEO of Dambiu, Dave Burrows who created the House of Memories App to support people living and working with Dementia and Rosemary Kay who offers business support to the local e-health cluster enabling practitioners, programmers and designers to work together to deliver solutions.
Students worked to devise technology and design solutions to some of the biggest perceived needs with ideas including ‘SuperCup’, a new, non-spill insulated cup with a memory gel handle for people with arthritis and parkinsons that doesn’t look like a toddler sippy cup; ‘Identify’, an app linked charm bracelet that allowed discrete and sensitive support for those living with a range of health conditions and winning idea, Jaco, a virtual pet that brought comfort and companionship to older people without the associated work and responsibility.
Students had the opportunity to pitch their ideas in an ‘Apprentice’ style finale to the week to Director of Innovation and Business Development, Rachael Stott at PSS, Chris Morland, CEO of award winning App Design company Citrus Suite and CEO of RLK Partnerships, Rosemary Kay.
Speaking after the event, Rachael Stott, Director of Innovation and Business Development at PSS said; “We spend lots of our time looking for technology that really thinks about the needs of the people who use it; seeing that addressed by a group of young people was really unique. What really excited me was the focus on preventation rather than cure which is much needed going forwards.”
Vice Principal of the UTC Ian Parry said; “Students at the UTC have this week embraced the challenge of working with leading businesses to develop their own ideas for life enhancing technologies. They have come up with a range of innovative ideas based on their own uses of technology whilst expanding their understanding of the medical, social and economic impact of an ageing population.”