Call goes out to support world-first health platform

First published by Edith Cowan University

The Edith Cowan University (ECU) Centre for Precision Health (CPH) is calling on the Western Australian community to support the development of NeuroHub WA, a world-first health platform that will support the more than one million Western Australians living with a neurological condition.

Community members have been urged to register their support for the online platform in the form of signatures, which will assist in funding efforts.

The NeuroHub WA prototype was co-developed by the CPH, neuroscience research institute Perron Institute, and impact partner Anthologie, in collaboration with people living with neurological conditions, healthcare experts, researchers, and not-for-profit industry leaders.

Following Anthologie's lived experience impact model has allowed the team to refine and validate the solution to ensure it will truly meet the needs of WA people, ECU senior researcher Dr Travis Cruickshank said.

"People living with neurological conditions are often overwhelmed with information, not just about their condition, but also in keeping track of their health records, their health providers, or the latest research.

"NeuroHub WA offers a digital solution to this, where users can create a personalised profile that allows you to manage your information, keep a detailed diary of your condition as well as your social appointments. The information can also be shared with your healthcare providers," Dr Cruickshank said.

Additionally, NeuroHub WA would offer users quick access to simple and easy-to-understand information about their conditions from specialist service providers and non-for-profit organisations, as well as highlighting the latest research that could impact those living with neurological conditions.

"Often times, patients living with neurological conditions feel like a passenger in their own life journey, particularly when it comes to their data. NeuroHub WA aims to give back that control," Dr Cruickshank said.

"NeuroHub WA has been a very large co-design initiative, developed with the neurological community for the neurological community. It will provide a large proportion of our population with support through their life-journey," Director of the CPH, Professor Simon Laws, added.

There are more than 600 different neurological disorders, which when combined are in the top five Burden of Disease groups for both fatal and non-fatal disease groups in WA. It is estimated that there are currently around 10.6-million Australians living with neurological conditions, accounting for around 46% of the Australian population.

The NeuroHub WA platform is supported by the WA Brain Injury Support Group, Brightwater, Neuro Muscular WA, Huntington's Australia, the Neurological Council of WA, Beyond ABI, Palliative Care WA, the Rare Care Centre, as well as a number of others.

You can register your support for the NeuroHub WA platform by leaving your signature.