To celebrate the work of the EPSRC EMERGENCE Healthcare Technologies Network+ we are holding a final launch event for the whole community. 

The EPSRC EMERGENCE Healthcare Technologies Network+ invites you to attend an exciting launch event for a new white paper on Robotics for Health and Social Care, a culmination of all the research and work undertaken by the network since 2022, working with a broad range of stakeholders to understand the barriers and challenges that stand in the way of successful deployment of robotic solutions into healthcare.

Assistive and rehabilitation robots, with their underpinning technologies such as sensors, actuators and machine learning, are being developed to sense and adapt to changing user needs, and provide physical support for mobility, rehabilitation and social engagement. While there has been considerable foundational research, realising the true potential of these systems within real-world contexts is slow. To a large extent, this is due to a lack of truly clinically driven and patient-centric approaches to design, evaluation and development, compounding the technical challenges of resilience, long-term autonomy, robustness, safety, scalability, affordability, sustainability and trust. Additionally, with the design and development often taking place at a remove from outside of the context of use, the ability of staff and patients to gain hands-on experience is limited, which in turn stymies adoption and spread of robotics technology innovations. In addition to this, the development of regulatory frameworks, procurement processes and supply chains for intelligent healthcare solutions, and skills and knowledge training programmes required to upskill a healthcare workforce to deliver an effective digital future, are seriously lagging behind.

The white paper presents key findings and aims to bring the community to an understanding of the nuanced and pragmatic aspects of what is required when researching, designing and developing assistive and rehabilitation robotic technologies to support older adults living with frailty. A road map is presented for health robotics researchers, designers and developers which defines best practice co-production approaches that are patient-driven and clinically informed, to assist them in navigating regulatory and ethical requirements while ensuring clinical and market viability. 

During the event, participants will explore the major themes of the paper:

Understanding requirements

Co-design and Co-production

Ethics, safety and regulations

Future care workforce training needs