WSDAN Progress – WSDAN ‘One Year On’

Nick Goodwin

This month WSDAN celebrates its first birthday. It has been a busy year since Ivan Lewis MP launched the project at The King’s Fund on the 9 July 2008. The key highlights from the last year include the following.

  • Main website launched  – 9 July 2008.
  • Monthly newsletter commenced – September 2008.
  • 12 WSDAN members recruited – October 2008.
  • 4 WSDAN member meetings held – October/December 2008, February/May 2009.
  • Member’s website and online ‘wikis’ launched – October 2008.
  • WSDAN site visits commenced – 6 November 2008.
  • Public events – London (22 January 2009), Birmingham (12 March 2009), Leeds (11 June 2009) – see our past events guide for access to these presentations.
  • WSDAN evidence database launched – 11 June 2009.
  • Over 1,000 registered users of the website reached – July 2009.

Over the next year the WSDAN team will continue to be very busy. Future work will include the following.

  • A further five free public events – the next event being held in Bristol on the 10 September 2009. Register here to book a place.
  • A further four WSDAN member-only events – October/December 2009, February/April 2010.
  • A major international three-day conference at The King’s Fund on the evidence for telehealth and telecare in enabling the integration of care for people with long-term conditions – September 2010.
  • Further site visits to WSDAN members to examine and facilitate progress in technology adoption and to learn key lessons for dissemination to a wider audience.
  • A systematic review of the evidence, undertaken with the University College London, to provide evidence in a non-academic format to those seeking an understanding of the evidence-base and its implications in the support of local commissioning strategies and decisions, business case developments, and project development support.
  • The continued development of the WSDAN evidence database.
  • The development of five briefing papers on key topics:
    • Evaluating telehealth and telecare: measures methods and tools. This paper, to be led by Prof Stanton Newman at UCL, aims to provide an understanding of the methods, tools and approaches that those wishing to undertake local evaluations of their innovations could employ to monitor progress and measure impact.
    • Commissioning telehealth and telecare: managing long-term conditions through the deployment of assistive technology. This paper will comprise an edited volume of practical essays from experts in the field. It will provide advice to those seeking to commission and/or develop business cases.
    • Sustaining innovations and new technologies. To be led by Prof James Barlow at Imperial College London and other leading experts. This paper will examine the issues and evidence in sustaining the development and application of new technologies, including ‘top 10 tips’.
    • The impact of telehealth and telecare in the management of people with long-term conditions: a review of the evidence base. This paper will draw upon the conclusions of the systematic review to provide a summary report of the evidence-base and what this means in practice.
    • Telehealth and telecare in practice: how technologies can improve care by professionals to patients. Drawing upon a range of case examples, this paper will provide a collection of narratives on the reality of the experience of working and living with telehealth and telecare.

Please register for updates on WSDAN’s activities through the front-page of our website at wsdactionnetwork.org.uk/. Registration is free and you will receive our monthly e-newsletter providing links to the latest news, research evidence and updates from the WSDAN member sites and WSD Pilots.

Nick Goodwin is a Senior Fellow at The King’s Fund and co-project lead for WSDAN