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HELSEVEL-Gode og effektive helse-, omsorgs- og velferdstjenester

Ensuring sustainable e-health transformation in primary health care through competent full-time workers

Alternative title: EHCOM - bærekraftig digital omstilling av helse- og omsorgstjenesten gjennom økt heltidsandel og kompetanseheving

Awarded: NOK 10.5 mill.

Digitalisation refers to processes whereby digital technology replaces what was previously done manually or by use of analogue information. A key factor in determining the healthcare sector's readiness for digital transformation is how well healthcare staff can adapt to and integrate new digital tools and systems in their work-practices. It has however been pointed out that the large share of part-time employees in the community health services can slow down the digital transition in the sector. Part-time employees working only a few hours a week have meager opportunities for learning and re-skilling. Hence, investigating implications of digitalisation when it comes to skills demand, employees’ capacities, motivation and possibilities to adjust to digital tools, how digitalisation influences workflows and cooperation, and how learning and up-skilling are facilitated in the health care sector is important. It is also necessary to explore how healthcare workers’ possibilities and motivation to adjust to digitalisation influence on service-users’ health, use of services, user-involvement and experience of the services. In the research project EHCOM we will investigate these issues. EHCOM's multidisciplinary research group from SINTEF Digital and NTNU will conduct research in close collaboration with managers, healthcare professionals and citizens from the municipalities Malvik, Levanger, Hitra and Verdal. The project combines perspectives and research methods from the social sciences, health economy and health services research.

EHCOM responds to the call for proposal related to e-health by addressing the primary health care sector's readiness for digital transformation in terms of competence and organization of the workforce. Digitization corresponds to the process of changing from analogue to digital form and digitization is the generic term for the digital transformation of society. Health care staff's competency in handling digital systems and adopting digitization in practice play a key role in achieving efficient and high-quality services. Studies do however indicate that the health care sector has been less successful in exploiting the potential of digital technology, and that especially part-time workers in municipal health care miss out on learning opportunities and competency development due to high work pressure and lack of time. Thinking through the implications of technology for skills demand, work process alterations and how to enable up-skilling is required. A health care sector taking full advantage of the competency of all its workers during radical digital transformations will advance the quality and the operational efficiency of its services. EHCOM consists of a multidisciplinary team with researchers from SINTEF, NTNU, and municipal leaders and practitioners from four municipalities. The project combines perspectives and approaches from the disciplines of social science, health services research and human-technology interaction. The proposed study is based on a long-standing collaborative relationship between the research team and the municipalities, and the project will involve close collaboration, common activities, and mutual learning between project partners and relevant stakeholders. The four municipalities will fully finance their own activities, while NTNU will finance major part of their commitments in the project.

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Funding scheme:

HELSEVEL-Gode og effektive helse-, omsorgs- og velferdstjenester