Within the framework of the programme "Research at Universities of Applied Sciences - FH-Social", the research project "VR-supported eLearning for Care in Rural Areas - a Model Project for Innovative Dental and Oral Health Prevention in Care (DO-Care)", coordinated by Prof. Dr. Harald Mehlich (Faculty of Health Management of the HNU), will be funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung, BMBF) as a socially innovative joint project starting August 01, 2020. The federal grant for the HNU amounts to almost 750,000 €, and over a period of four years two scientist positions will be generated from the funds.
The aim of the research project is to sustainably improve the dental and oral health of elderly people in care, especially in rural areas, with the help of an e-learning concept and elements of virtual reality (VR) developed especially for people in need of care, their relatives, and nursing staff. In the light of a continuously increasing number of people in need of care in Germany (around 4.1 million, as of end-2019) and an overall decline in health care in rural areas, the virtual learning modules can be made available on the Internet and disseminated via care centres or dental chambers, and are expected to support training within the care sector in the future. The project follows the 2018 changes in legislation (Section 22a of the German “Sozialgesetzbuch”, Buch 5), according to which people in need of care are entitled to benefits for the prevention of dental diseases. The augmented e-learning modules can be designed and implemented in HNU's own virtual reality laboratory.
The project will be carried out in collaboration between the Institut für Vernetzte Gesundheit (Institute for Networked Health, Faculty of Health Management) and the Institute for Digital Transformation (Faculty of Information Management) of the HNU and in close cooperation with the Dental Association of the State of Baden-Württemberg (Landeszahnärztekammer Baden-Württemberg, LZK BW), the German Society for Geriatric Dentistry (Deutsche Gesellschaft für AlterszahnMedizin, DGAZ) as well as other partners in science, research (Dentistry at the Universities of Leipzig and Potsdam), and the care sector (Charleston-Elisabethenhaus and Valckenburgschule, Ulm).
Two doctorates will be realised in connection with the project. With the development of new VR applications for the general benefit of care, the research project will also support one of HNU's central research areas in the field of digitalization in medicine and care, the research topic "Innovative Services in Healthcare", as well as the development of new courses of study at HNU.
Additional information:
https://www.forschung-fachhochschulen.de/bekanntmachungen/fh-sozial (BMBF, DE)
