iWHW@UC Davis
initiative for Wireless Health and Wellness
The Challenge:
We are faced with a future of steeply growing incidence of disability and demand for healthcare services at the same time that we face substantial constraints on human and economic resources. Over 54 million Americans (approx. 1 in 5) report at least one disability, and 35 million are affected by “severe” disabilities. Furthermore, the number of people affected by disability will grow dramatically in the coming decades, driven by two fundamental factors: aging population, and chronic diseases. The population over 65 will double from 35 million to nearly 70 million by 2025. The U.S. chronic disease burden is already substantial as 133 million Americans, nearly one in two adults, have at least one chronic illness. The Milken Institute estimates 2003-2023 growth of prevalence of Stroke at 29%, Diabetes at 53%, and Cancer at 63%. The economic resources are not the only critical constraint for the future – with estimated physician shortage of 124,000, nursing shortage of 500,000, and rehabilitation-related occupation shortages over 105,000. All these challenges reinforce that health care needs a major shift toward more scalable and affordable solutions.
The Solution:
The solution scope needs expertise and knowledge in various domains: telemedicine, user-centered outcome measures, nursing care, disability research, regulatory policy, business aspects, industry, software, large data management and analytics, wireless and sensor technology. The initative for Wireless Health and Wellness (iWHW) at UC Davis is an integrated effort from all of these disciplines.
The overarching goal and hypothesis is that with existing technology and technology that’s developed as part of the research, it will be possible to utilize wireless sensor-derived, contextually-rich objective physical activity data that is anchored to validated person reported outcome measures (NIH PROMIS) in the context of an innovative model of remote delivery of care and intervention using health coach, that will also utilize distributed computation and storage (“Cloud computing”) integrated with EHR system. In essence, the proposed research project will represent “proof-ofconcept” for a prototypical viable model of future mHealth and will provide valuable information to build a framework as well as serve to provide a foundation for future studies in the area.
The Roadmap:
UC Davis is strategically and optimally positioned to become a national and international leader in the burgeoning wireless health and wellness arena. The combination of expertise and excellence in the core domains found at UC Davis is “singularly unique” in the nation: UC Davis is a national leader in telehealth under the direction of Dr. Thomas Nesbitt; a forward-looking nursing school led by Dean Heather Young who spearheads innovative technology nursing research; a successful NIH Clinical and Translational Science Center (CTSC) led by Dr. Lars Berglund; an internationally recognized computer science and innovative wireless research program headed by Dr. Prasant Mohapatra, Chair of Computer Science; a recognized leader in medical rehabilitation and disability research by the NIDRR-funded Rehabilitation Research and Training Center (RRTC-NMD) led by Associate Director Dr. Jay Han; a substantial expertise in telehealth policy as well as experience in interprofessional program development by Jana Katz- Bell; a highly integrated and implemented electronic health record (EHR) system at the UC Davis Health System at the highest level that only a few institutions (<5%) in the US can boast; and active involvement of numerous industry partners in the wireless, sensor, information technology (IT), and mHealth sectors.
Seed Funding:
