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CASE STUDY

Developing the Digital Health Passport for young people with long-term health conditions

UNMET NEED

Young people with long-term health conditions are required to move (or ‘transition’) from children’s to adult health services when they are 16-19 years old. Adult health services are very different from children’s health services, and young people need to be prepared. This includes teaching young people about their health condition and how to manage it themselves. However, this can take a lot of time and many health services do not have the resources to do this well. This can mean that some young people stop attending their hospital appointments and stop taking their medications, which can make them very poorly.

SOLUTION

The Digital Health Passport (DHP) is a phone app that allows young people to access their care plan and emergency care plan, and provides them with a way to log their symptoms and access NHS approved information about how to manage their long-term health condition. The app has been developed in collaboration with young people and NHS clinical teams across the UK. The initial focus has been on asthma, but the project team are currently developing an allergy version of the app and are exploring the need for other conditions. The app has been developed by a small company called Tiny Medical Apps.

STAGE OF DEVELOPMENT BEFORE WORKING WITH NIHR CYP MEDTECH

Basic idea

Concept development

Prototype development

Prototype validation

Clinical testing

Regulatory approval

Manufacturing

Commercially available

SUPPORT PROVIDED BY NIHR CYP MEDTECH

Support and guidance to secure funding

NIHR CYP MedTech supported the funding application to NHS England to co-design and evaluate the DHP for allergies, and have led on and supported several other funding applications to co-design and evaluate the DHP for other conditions.

Access to NHS and NIHR infrastructure

NIHR CYP MedTech used their extensive networks to identify relevant clinical partners and establish collaborations, as well as to find out whether young people and parents/guardians would like us to develop the DHP for other health conditions.

Project management

NIHR CYP MedTech is providing day-to-day management of the project.

NEXT STEPS

We are planning an evaluation of the allergy DHP at Sheffield Children’s NHS Foundation Trust, where we will ask 100 young people with a food allergy aged 13-18 years to trial the app for six months. We are also exploring developing the DHP for other long-term conditions, including inflammatory bowel disease and sleep disorders.

IMPACT

The DHP has wide reaching potential benefits for both young people and clinical services, including:

  • Improved understanding of the young person’s condition(s) and self-management, reducing the risk of potentially serious complications;
  • Increased engagement with paediatric and adult services at a time critical point that determines long-term health outcomes;
  • Improved quality of life and reduced psychological distress due to more controlled disease;
  • A reduction in unplanned hospital attendances and admissions through improved self-management;
  • Higher quality and more efficient routine consultations and annual reviews through greater availability of relevant clinical data; and
  • Directly addressing the needs and agendas of young people and their families.

FUNDING

NHS England (Innovation and Technology Payment) funded the initial development and evaluation of the allergy DHP. We are applying for funding for other versions of the DHP.

PARTNERS

 

Last updated: 18 May 2022