DHM - Digital Health Module in Postgraduate Higher Education

DHM

The aim of the project is to develop, implement and evaluate an evidence-based Digital Health Module in Postgraduate Higher Education curriculum in Finland and Japan.

Project information

Project duration

-

Funded by

Other Finnish

Project funder

Finnish National Agency for Education

Funding amount

55 000 EUR

Project coordinator

University of Oulu

Contact information

Contact person

Project description

The aim of the project is to develop, implement and evaluate an evidence-based Digital Health Module in Postgraduate Higher Education curriculum in Finland and Japan.

The scope of digital health in the project includes mobile health (mHealth), health information technology (IT), wearable devices, telehealth and telemedicine, and personalized medicine. Digital health promotes finding healthcare solutions, efficient healthcare delivery, personalized client care and promotes health and wellbeing in the population.

The joint project answers the educational needs within the Finnish and Japanese healthcare institutions and the national needs of governments for deeper knowledge about the latest developments in digitalization and international expertise.

The first year of the project will involve the planning of the DHM between the two countries. The planning will involve the setting of learning outcomes for the students, combining themes for teaching content, learning and teaching tasks, and evaluation of the students’ learning. The planning phase will involve a teacher and student exchange during autumn 2017 and spring 2018. The students in the final stage of their studies will be recruited for the purpose of planning the digital health module.

The second year of the project will involve the integration of the DHM into a postgraduate higher education curriculum in Finland and Japan. During the integration process of the curriculum, study groups are created to learn and test innovative ideas to conduct healthcare problem solving and solution finding.

The final phase will involve the dissemination and evaluation of the Digital Health Module. The dissemination will take place in the final education symposium, where successful students will present their results in the form of local newspaper reports, blogs, conference procedures and scientific articles. The event will be open for everyone with the aim of sharing new knowledge to society. The final version of the DHM will be integrated in the postgraduate curriculum of both countries.

Project results

Digital Health Module:

  • will benefit postgraduate students and teachers in identifying the needs for digital health in specific areas of healthcare within the two countries;
  • will improve the postgraduate curriculum of higher education in Finland and Japan by developing the competence of health science students and teachers in Digital Health;
  • will increase competence in digitalization and creative problem solving in health science education;
  • will provide new concepts and knowledge on international and local digital health measures in healthcare;
  • will provide students and teachers opportunities for international mobility and exchange;
  • will reinforce joint collaboration on specific educational levels and offer more possibilities for joint initiatives in higher education, research and knowledge sharing in the future.

Partners

Osaka University

Partnership between Osaka University in Japan and University of Oulu in Finland was established in 2001 between nursing science in Japan and health sciences in Finland. The collaboration has focused on issues related to research methodology in health sciences and health promotion, in addition to training of postgraduate students. Student and staff exchange has been regular since 2006 including visits rotating between the two universities every second year. The new project will open new avenues for cooperation, combining the interdisciplinary education of postgraduate students of the two countries on 1) developing the postgraduate degree programme curriculum, 2) merging relevant healthcare solutions to problematic areas of the two countries with digital health, and 3) starting a teacher exchange programme between the two countries.