The Health and Social Care Board (HSCB) has been successful in an eHealth and Data Analytics Dementia Pathfinder Programme bid which has been part funded by the NI Executive Office, Atlantic Philanthropies and Department of Health.

Between end of July to September HSCB eHealth called for Expressions of Interest for a number of “non-academic or real-life” data analytics projects aimed at improving our understanding of dementia in Northern Ireland and informing better services and support for people with dementia and planning for the future.

Altogether there were 47 requests for application packs and 13 submissions were received of which eight were for scoping projects and five were for full projects. Eight projects have successfully received funding following expressions of interest in round one.

Back row (left to right): Peter Corscadden (Analytics Engines), Dr Catherine Hughes (Ulster University), Paul Carlin (South Eastern Trust) and Professor Jonathan Wallace (Ulster University).
Front row (from left): Dr Frances Duffy (Northern Trust), and Western Trust’s Dr Gillian Mullan, Carmel Darcy and Majella Magee. With them is Soo Hun, from the Health and Social Care Board (back row, centre).

Successful scoping submissions

Dr Gillian Mullan – Western HSC Trust

Title: Exploratory Analysis of WHSCT Detailed Memory Assessment Service Data 2016-2018

Dr Frances Duffy – Northern HSC Trust

Title: Who attends the memory service and what is the outcome of their assessment?

Dr Bernadette McGuinness – Queen’s University Belfast, Lead Applicant and Analytics Engine, Co-Applicant

Title: PRECISION Mental Health – Dementia

Carmel Darcy – Western HSC Trust

Title: Reducing inappropriate use of long-term and new antipsychotic prescriptions in people living with Dementia known to the WHSCT Community Mental Health Team for Older People (CMHTOP)

Dr Michaela Black- Ulster University Lead Applicant & SEHSCT Co-Applicant

Title: Time Series Geo-Referenced Health Care Analytics for Dementia

Among the successful applicants are: (from left): Dr Ruth Price (Ulster University), Dr Frances Duffy (Northern Trust), Brendan Crossey (Nightingale Analytics) and Dr Sharon Cruise (Queen’s University Belfast). Included is Soo Hun from the Health and Social Care Board (centre).

Successful full submissions

Dr Ruth Price – Ulster University Lead Applicant, Nightingale Analytics – Co-Applicant, Northern HSCT – Co-Applicant, and AgeNI – Co-Applicant

Title: Online Decision Support Tool for accelerated diagnosis of dementia

Dr Sharon Cruise – NICOLA, Queen’s University Belfast

Title: Using the NICOLA Study to examine the epidemiology of mild cognitive impairment and subjective cognitive decline in Northern Ireland’s older adults

Dr Sharon Cruise – NICOLA, Queen’s University Belfast

Title: Using the NICOLA Study linked to administrative data to understand how older adults in Northern Ireland transition from MCI to dementia, and to examine equity in dementia-related healthcare access.