The 4th webinar on Patient and Public Involvement and Engagement in Child Health Tech development organized by the EPTRI Medical Devices Platform was held online on 5th March of January 2024.
Participants had the chance to learn more about on the impact of involving children and young people in shaping child health technology.
Speakers also presented several successful cases of patient-centric research involving children and their families.
Our first speaker was Jenny Preston. Jenny is a is a senior Patient and Public Involvement and Engagement Manager based at the University of Liverpool. Her main role for the last 18 years has been to deliver a strategy for the involvement and engagement of children, young people and families in paediatric health research. She is currently the PPIE Executive Lead for the NIHR Children and Young People MedTech Co-operative (CYPMedTech). Jenny gave an overview of the importance of patient-centric paediatric research while showing the projects in which CYPMedTech is involved.
Our second speaker was Begonya Nafria. She is Patient Engagement in Research Coordinator at Sant Joan de Déu Chidren’s Hospital (Spain). Her areas of expertise are focused on paediatric patients’ involvement in research, specifically in the field of clinical trials and innovation. Begonya focused on the importance of paediatric indication for new therapies, particularly concerning rare diseases and the work of I4KIDS, the paediatric innovation hub at San Joan de Déu Barcelona’s Hospital and their collaboration with the European Young Persons Advisory Group Network (eYPAGnet).
Our final speaker, Francesca Fedeli, is a patients’ and people with disabilities rights activist and co-founder, with Roberto D’Angelo, of Fightthestroke.org, with the aim of developing inclusive solutions for young stroke survivors and people with Cerebral Palsy, as their son, Mario. Francesca provided an overview on how patients can and must be engaged in scientific research and how health tech can be a powerful enabler for better childcare.
The recording of the webinar is available here.
Don’t miss our next webinar on Co-design in child health technology that will be held on May 7th. Stay tuned for more information!