International project DIGI4Care plans to deploy digital technologies for patients with cognitive impairment

On Monday, 18 March 2024, the Social Centre of the Vysočina Region hosted the kick-off meeting of the international project DIGI4Care, which was attended by the project team from the Faculty of Management and representatives of partner organisations that will participate in the 4th pilot research. The project team from the Faculty of Management under the leadership of Peter Pažitný presented to the representatives of the Vysočina Region and the social service centres the overall intention of the project and possible ways of involving these organisations in the project. In addition to Jiří Bina, Kateřina Jasenčáková and Věra Švarcová from the Regional Office of the Vysočina Region, the meeting was attended by Martina Matějková and Pavla Dolejší from the Social Centre of the Vysočina Region – Domov Ždírec, Alena Řehořová from the Integrated Centre of Social Services Jihlava and Lucie Zajícová and Jaroslava Tkáčová from Alzheimer Home, while the project team from the Faculty of management was represented by Peter Pažitný, Kristina Randlová, Marek Řehoř and the project manager Lenka Vetýšková.

Kristina Randlová and Marek Řehoř presented the overall focus of the project to the representatives of the individual organizations, mainly taking into account the 4th project pilot research, which focuses on cognitive disorders such as Alzheimer’s disease, dementia or stroke in the context of outpatient and long-term inpatient care in social service centres. This pilot research foresees a focus on monitoring patients’ vital signs, movement and falls, and on cognitive and social rehabilitation using digital technologies. During the subsequent discussion, the representatives discussed the possibilities of deploying similar digital technologies in their social service centres.

The project Digital Medical technologies reshaping the DR Healthcare systems throughout the patient journeys from prevention to rehabilitation (DIGI4Care for short) aims to support the introduction of innovation and digital technologies in healthcare delivery through transnational collaboration. Its primary focus is to develop, test and validate collaborative solutions that address the main challenges hindering the uptake and diffusion of digital technologies in healthcare. Harnessing the potential of digital technologies aims to improve the quality of healthcare services and patient outcomes. The project assesses and validates the feasibility, benefits and added value of integrating digital technologies into healthcare processes and workflows.

The partnership includes 12 organisations from 8 countries, each representing different levels of innovation and integration of digital technologies in healthcare. By facilitating transnational collaboration, knowledge transfer and strengthening innovation capacity, DIGI4Care also contributes to narrowing the innovation gap between older and newer Member States as well as non-EU countries in the Danube region. The project is funded by the European Union under the Interreg DANUBE programme.