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EU Interreg Northern Periphery and Arctic ‘SelfCare’ Project 

The EU Interreg Northern Periphery and Arctic Programme (NPA) SelfCare Project is led by Professor Liam Glynn. The project will be carried out over three years from Sept 2024-Aug 2027 with UL funding of €363,633 and a total project funding of €1,018,275. The project aim is to improve access for hard-to-reach cohorts in rural areas to culturally sensitive health and well-being self-management services, supported by an innovative framework that will increase collaboration and knowledge sharing across borders in the NPA regions.

Our project partners are Region Vasterbotten in Sweden (lead partner) and Veltek Health and Welfare Technology Cluster, Iceland. Our collaborators include, the Nordic Welfare Centre, Stockholm, Sweden (Nordens välfärdscenter); the Department of Occupational Medicine and Public Health in the Faroese Hospital System (Deildin fyri Arbeiðs- og Almannaheilsu), Faroe Islands; Wellbeing Services County of Lapland (Lapin hyvinvointialue); the Health Services Executive (HSE) in the Mid-West, Ireland.

Culturally sensitive and appropriate services refer to services that are designed and implemented with a deep respect for diverse cultures and their values, beliefs and customs. These services aim to ensure that individuals from diverse cultural backgrounds are treated with fairness, dignity and respect, while also addressing their unique needs and preferences. The project will focus on the following 3 target groups: 1) Ukrainian refugees who have arrived in Ireland since the beginning of the Russian invasion; 2) The Sami population following migrating reindeer herds inside the arctic circle; 3) The older adult population living independently in remote rural and isolated Icelandic Island and remote communities who need to travel to access healthcare services.

The common thread is one of marginalisation, disconnection, disempowerment and low levels of trust and understanding. The health and well-being of these communities is dependent on the ability to access culturally sensitive healthcare in a timely fashion, as close to the communities as possible. This can be enabled by technology but must be anchored not only at national level (ministries and authorities), but also with relevant local stakeholders including target groups within the NPA region, where such results have the greatest impact in terms of health and economics. Developing appropriate self-management opportunities in sparsely populated areas will have an economic and sustainable impact as it will be enabled by new and innovative technological solutions. It will address some of the mutual challenges these regions face due to a lack of physical professional presence in healthcare, emigration of young people, skewed demographics, lack of innovation and a very dispersed population.

Left to right: Professor Liam Glynn (Principal Investigator and Full Professor of General Practice), Monica Casey (Senior Administrator, ULEARN-GP Network), Lisbeth Kjellberg (Director, LK Consulting), Andreas Lundqvist (Head of Unit, Centre for Rural Medicine, Region Västerbotten), Hanna Sigga Asgeirsdottir (Project Manager, Fjallabyggd), Associate Professor Bjorg Thordardottir (OsloMet, the Metropolitan University Department of Rehabilitation Science and Health Technology), Professor Peter Hayes (BMBS Course Director and Professor of Rural General Practice), Perla Björk Egilsdóttir (Managing Director of Veltek) and Kristinn Leifsson (Consultant for Veltek).

On the screen: Niclas Forsling, Project Manager, Center for Rural Medicine, Region ��ä���ٱ�����dzٳٱ�;&�Բ�����;Sandra Boman, Finance Manager, Region Västerbotten

Award for Best Education Research Presentation AUDGPI /ICGP Annual Scientific Meeting

AUDGPI / ICGP Annual Scientific Meeting at UL – Award for Best Education Research Presentation Mar 9, 2024.

‘Longitudinal Integrated Clerkships in general practice (LICs): graduate’s perceptions of their influence on the journey from medical student to doctor’ Authors: P Greally, A O’Regan, P Hayes, S Hyde

 
(from left) Professor Andrew O’Regan, Professor Peter Hayes (award recipients) and the conference organising committee. Profesor Patrick O’Donnell, Dénia Claudino, Professor Jon Salsbery, Professor Ray O’Connor, Monica Casey, Professor Anne MacFarlane, Professor Liam Glynn, Elena Koskinas (student rep)
 

Exercise is Medicine on Campus, UL, Gold Award 2024 

The Exercise is Medicine® On Campus programme at UL has achieved the Gold Campus recognition again. The team is led by Professor Matthew P. Herring and Professor Brian Carson with contributions from Professor Liam Glynn, Sinead Kelly, Darragh O’Sullivan, Jennifer Rice (students) and other partners.

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