Centre for Care Technology Research first NWO Centre of Research Excellence in the Netherlands
During the opening symposium of the Centre for Care Technology Research (CCTR) on 13 October, ZonMw chair Henk Smid formally appointed the CCTR an NWO Centre of Research Excellence (CoRE).
The CCTR is a consortium established within the framework of NIG, an NWO/ZonMw initiative that focuses on developing medical instruments and R&D infrastructure in the Netherlands. Leading partners include Maastricht University/Maastricht UMC+, CAPHRI, the University of Twente and TNO. This appointment makes the CCTR the first of eight national CoREs in the Netherlands. According to NIG programme secretary Gerrit van Ark, the foundation of the CCTR has also facilitated the implementation of the 2007 policy for social research programmes: ‘These eight CoREs were considered the best of fourteen initiatives assessed by an international review committee.’
Smid congratulated the directors on the establishment of the CCTR, stating that ‘The clustering of businesses, knowledge centres and health care institutions will make it possible to develop multidisciplinary, technological innovations in the health care sector.’ Maria van der Hoeven, Demissionary Minister of Economic Affairs, was convinced of the centre’s significance, stating that ‘The CCTR can make a real difference in terms of diagnostics, monitoring measures and treatment methods using new health care innovations.’ Equally enthusiastic about the new centre was Paul Huijts, Director-General for the Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport. ‘Having a chronic illness is not necessarily the same as being chronically ill’, he said. ‘Chronically ill people can still be active participants in society. The challenge is to develop technologies that facilitate this participation but also curb the increase in health care costs. These are the sort of issues that the CCTR is actively pursuing.’
Patients' self-management skills
As a result of demographic developments, the Netherlands will inevitably face an increase in the number of chronically ill patients and a decrease in the number of available health care workers in the near future. Prevention and health care measures must therefore be organised more efficiently by making optimal use of patients’ self-management skills. Technology can play an important role here and, according to Smid, ‘the CCTR can provide the solution to this problem’. In an international context, technological care innovations will be developed and implemented to help promote patient autonomy.
The symposium made clear that the 17 consortium partners have a wealth of ideas for research proposals. These ideas were then further elaborated and organised into three research lines. The first line, focusing on extramural ‘point-of-care’ diagnoses, will study the practical applications of innovative medical services. GP Jochen Cals, for example, noted that ‘chronic illnesses also have acute moments’, indicating the importance of developing rapid testing devices for use in GP offices. The second line will involve intelligent monitoring of physiological and behavioural parameters, concentrating on behavioural change and prediction. When developing new technologies, attention must be paid to the patient’s lifestyle and environment; as Huijts put it, ‘simply producing a new device is not to say that it will necessarily be used’. Finally, the third line will examine which types of training and therapies best suit a patient’s everyday life. Patients determine when and where their preferred treatment will take place, and in this respect Van der Hoeven stressed the importance of this research line: ‘Health care also serves a social function’. In her view, ‘It’s a good thing that carers and families get to play a role in the CCTR.’
According to Hermie Hermens, together the consortium partners provide the ‘knowledge necessary for a comprehensive approach within the CCTR’, thereby circumventing the existing mismatch between technology and health care. That this knowledge will only expand further is evident in CAPHRI's scientific director Onno van Schayck’s announcement that ‘The CCTR is an open consortium, and new partners are always welcome.’