Dr Joanne Brown Honoured with Inaugural Barnett Award

by | Nov 13, 2024 | News Release, Press

We’re thrilled to share the news that our esteemed colleague, Dr Joanne Brown, has been awarded the inaugural Barnett Award at the Royal Pharmaceutical Society Annual Conference. This prestigious honour recognises her exceptional commitment to mentoring and professional development within the pharmacy profession.

As the Senior Research and Innovation Programme Manager at the Medicines Optimisation Innovation Centre, Joanne’s dedication to fostering growth in pharmacy is unparalleled. Her previous role as Clinical Education Lead at the Northern Health and Social Care Trust saw her support pharmacy professionals at all career stages.

Joanne’s influence extends beyond her formal duties. She has mentored over 50 individuals, offering personalised guidance and creating a supportive environment for professional growth. Her contributions to improving learning systems across Northern Ireland have significantly impacted pharmacy education.

Dr Joanne Brown, said “I am honoured and humbled to receive the Barnett Award.  Professor Barnett, Nina, was inspirational. She has given us a tremendous legacy and demonstrated, by her practice, the type of pharmacy professionals we should aspire to be.”

Professor Cathy Harrison, Chief Pharmaceutical Officer, Department of Health, said: “I am delighted to see Dr Joanne Brown receive this well-deserved award. Her dedication and commitment to mentoring and developing pharmacy professionals is truly inspiring. Joanne’s work has had a significant impact on the pharmacy profession in Northern Ireland and beyond. She is a role model for us all.”

The Barnett Award, established by the RPS in memory of esteemed RPS Fellow Nina Barnett, honours individuals who have dedicated their careers to supporting, mentoring, and advancing others within the pharmacy profession. This well-deserved recognition highlights Joanne’s significant contribution to the pharmacy profession. We extend our warmest congratulations to her on this outstanding achievement.

 

 

Get in Shapes!

Get in Shapes!

by | Sep 7, 2023 | News Release, Press

Nicola Goodfellow presented at SHAPES pre-conference programme of the 17th International Conference of the Association for the Advancement of Assistive Technology in Europe (AAATE) in Paris.

This event provided an opportunity for all pilot leaders to present on the piloting of SHAPES (Smart and Healthy Aging Through People Engaging in Supportive Systems) Digital Solutions in the SHAPES Innovation Action. Nicola Goodfellow, a MOIC programme manager, presented on Pilot 3, Medicine control and optimisation.

This pilot trailed the use of 9 SHAPES Digital Solutions with 73 older adults for 12 weeks in 4 countries across Europe, including participants from the NHSCT. The positive impacts from the pilot seen at NHSCT were: participants felt reassured that they were able to self-monitor their condition; they had a high level of trust for collecting health data and willingness to share it with healthcare teams; and most participants expressed an interest in continuing to use the Digital Solutions if they were available after the pilot.

Get in SHAPES! – AAATE 2023

SHAPES App experience ranks high in Northern Ireland

SHAPES App experience ranks high in Northern Ireland

by | Aug 15, 2023 | News Release, Press

Older people with heart failure in Northern Ireland took part in a 12-week pilot of the SHAPES platform and digital solutions earlier this year. Participants used a mobile app (combination of a SHAPES front-end app and the eCare app; both provided by EDGE) that was linked to a range of smart medical devices to record their heart rate, blood pressure, weight and oxygen saturation, as well as complete a daily survey about their health. There was a high level of engagement with the mobile app throughout the pilot. Researchers used the System Usability Score (SUS) and User Experience Questionnaire (short-version; UEQ-S) to evaluate user experience and satisfaction with the mobile app. Mean SUS score for the four participants was 83.13 (standard deviation [SD] 12.48). A score of over 68 in the SUS is considered above average, therefore this finding suggests an acceptable level of usability. Mean UEQ-S score for the four participants was 2.09 (SD 0.62). This finding indicates that the user experience was ‘excellent’ when compared with benchmark data.

Participants were also interviewed about their experience during the pilot. In terms of trusting the mobile app, none of the participants surveyed had any issue or concern with it collecting, storing and displaying their health information. All participants welcomed the potential future inclusion of healthcare practitioners in viewing their data. The participants perceived the mobile app as useful for self-monitoring their health indicators. However, they described the frequency of using the devices and mobile app every day as too burdensome and monotonous.

Challenges with recruitment of participants for this pilot and the short duration of the pilot meant that researchers were unable to evaluate how the SHAPES platform and digital solutions impacted upon their health and wellbeing outcomes. However, these positive findings on usability and user experience revealed that the digital solutions deployed in this pilot were used, useful and usable by older people living at home. Moreover, participants trusted the technology and were encouraged by the prospect of their healthcare professionals using these remote methods to monitor their health.

Clinical Pharmacy paper published

Clinical Pharmacy paper published

by | Aug 2, 2023 | News Release, Press

Frontiers in Pharmacology, the 3rd most-cited and 6th largest research publisher, has today published a manuscript looking at how the  wider adoption of clinical pharmacy in Central and Eastern Europe will improve patient outcomes. MOIC were delighted to co-author this paper alongside partners from across Europe.  This important paper provides more visibility across Europe for clinical pharmacy and supports the WHO 3rd Global Patient Safety Challenge ‘Medication without harm’.

Clinical pharmacy as an area of practice, education and research started developing around the 1960s when pharmacists across the globe gradually identified the need to focus more on ensuring the appropriate use of medicines to improve patient outcomes rather than being engaged in manufacturing and supply. Since that time numerous studies have shown the positive impact of clinical pharmacy services (CPS). The need for wider adoption of CPS worldwide becomes urgent, as the global population ages, and the prevalence of polypharmacy as well as shortage of healthcare professionals is rising.

Clinical Pharmacy in Northern Ireland is ahead of the trend across Europe and is an example of best practice.   MOIC has been working with colleagues across Europe to share best practice and support medicines optimisation, including the development of clinical pharmacy to deliver improved patient outcomes.

Read the paper in full here.

Eurodurg Conference

Eurodurg Conference

by | Jul 4, 2023 | News Release, Press

Anita Hogg recently travelled to Bologna Italy to attend the ENABLE COST Action meetings and the Eurodurg Conference.

The ENABLE COST Action promotes best practice in the development and sustainable implementation of medication adherence technologies in health and social care systems. The Bologna meetings facilitated multidisciplinary collaboration for successful development and deployment of technologies and supported further development of the ENABLE repository, a key deliverable of the ENABLE Action. Over 30 countries participated. MOIC is a member of both Working Groups 1 and 2.

The European Drug Utilisation Research Group has a long time tradition of arranging scientific meetings focusing on the quality use of medicines. This year focused on the sustainable use of medicine, globalisation of medicine use and drug utilisation as well as a special focus on medication adherence. Anita attended on behalf of MOIC and was pleased to present a poster on the iSIMPATHY Shared learning model.

This was a fantastic opportunity to showcase MOIC’s work to a global audience and connect with colleagues throughout Europe.

To view the poster click here.