Using technology, design and healthcare partnerships to research how digital information is managed after death

Research, using design and digital methods, can potentially help patients and caregivers to manage their digital legacy (the digital information available about someone following their death). However, there is a lack of multi-disciplinary partnerships exist that are required to adequately conduct digital legacy research in palliative care. Multidisciplinary partnerships involving design, digital and palliative care stakeholders can potentially improve the conduct of digital legacy research to improve outcomes for patients, caregivers and wider society. 

Dr Amara Nwosu will provide information about a UK National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) project to develop a multidisciplinary digital legacy design network (compromising of palliative care, digital and design stakeholders) to work collaboratively to improve the capacity to conduct digital legacy research. 

About Amara Nwosu

Dr Nwosu is a Senior Clinical Lecturer in Palliative Care at Lancaster Medical School. Dr Nwosu is also the research lead for Research lead (Marie Curie Hospice Liverpool) and a former Research Scholar for the (National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) North West Coast Clinical Research Network (CRN)). Clinically, Dr Nwosu works as an Honorary Consultant in Palliative Care at the Royal Liverpool University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. 

Dr Nwosu’s PhD project involved the use of bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA) to evaluate hydration in advanced cancer. For this work, he was awarded the 2014 Twycross Research prize of the Association of Palliative Medicine and received joint 3rd place for the Early Researcher Award of the European Association of Palliative Care (EAPC). He also won the National Cancer Research Institute (NCRI) conference prize on two occasions (2012 and 2014).  

Dr Nwosu’s research interests include:

  • the evaluation of technology to support care for patients with advanced disease and
  • the use of clinically assisted hydration to manage symptoms.

Dr Nwosu is the podcast Editor for the ‘Palliative Medicine’ journal (SAGE Publications). In 2020 Dr Nwosu was awarded the Churchill Fellowship, through which he will research how digital health technology can improve palliative care, in the Netherlands and the USA.  

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