This article is translated from Norwegian to English by UiOGPT
The funds are allocated to the follow-up of families with chronically ill children (SIBS) and an app for individuals who have undergone surgery after acute injury (TACT).
New Intervention
"We are going to further develop and implement a manual-based intervention for siblings and parents of children with chronic illness. This is something we have developed and researched over the past 10 years in collaboration with user associations, municipalities, and hospitals," says Krister Fjermestad.
Together with co-applicant Torun Vatne, he has received NOK 200,000 from the UiO Growth House for the project "The 'SIBS' Intervention for Siblings of Children with Chronic Disorders."
He is pleased that the funding comes at a convenient time.
"We have just completed the world's largest randomized controlled study (RCT) in the sibling field with support from the Research Council, and we are now transitioning to national and international implementation and dissemination."
According to Fjermestad, they will need help with more professional product development and different financial models for the distribution of the product across and within health services, as well as further internationalization.
"Our goal is to make SIBS a leading global intervention for siblings," he says.
Post-op App
Sophia Engel at PSI receives NOK 50,000 from the UiO Growth House to further develop the mobile application TACT: “The TACT App: Can a trauma-specific digital intervention based on Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) improve trauma patients’ health-related quality of life”.
"TACT is specifically tailored to people who have undergone surgery after experiencing a sudden injury, called a traumatic injury in medical terminology" she says.
In Norway, about every eighth hospitalization is attributed to such injury, according to Engel. Despite improved survival and surgical outcomes, she points out that health-related quality of life remains low among those affected. Repeatedly, chronic pain and psychological distress have been identified as prevalent factors contributing to such unfavorable results.
"TACT aims to provide an effective and easily accessible intervention which patients can use on an as-needed basis after being discharged from the hospital."
"Our goal is to improve patients' understanding, abilities, and confidence in managing their health and healthcare to alleviate symptom burden and improve health-related quality of life," explains Engel.
Motivational seed
Both received the news of the seed funding well.
"First I thought 'Hooray!' Then I thought that now there will be even more work,” describes Fjermestad.
"It was a great relief," responds Engel.
She explains that the seed funding will allow them to finalize the programming of an initial prototype of the TACT app
"It will be an important milestone for the project. We will use it to gather feedback from experts and seek additional funding to improve the app's design and ensure the secure handling of patient data," she adds.