The placement will be hosted by the University’s Advanced Polymer Sintering Laboratory, based within the School of Mechanical, Aerospace and Civil Engineering, University of Sheffield (https://sheffield.ac.uk/mac)
Healthcare inequalities are described by NHS England as ‘unfair and avoidable differences in health across the population, and between different groups within society’.
Such differences may be related to specific characteristics such as ethnicity, sex or gender, socio-economic factors, location, or a number of other factors, and may affect the level of healthcare an individual can access, their consequent quality of life, and life expectancy. In addition, such inequalities have a negative effect on the economy; according to a report by the World Economic Forum and McKinsey & Company, closing the gender health gap alone could add $1 trillion to the annual global economy by 2040.
This is a complex and complicated issue, with no ‘simple’ fixes; this in turn means we must consider a wide range of potential solutions to address different aspects. One way in which we may be able to attack the problem is to make better use of improved digital scanning and manufacturing techniques, in particular through increasing development of personalised products and devices.
In this placement, you will investigate the ways in which the design of medical devices and other products influences healthcare inequalities, and the potential impact personalised manufacturing could have in reducing them. There is an increasing body of evidence demonstrating negative effects of devices designed in ‘standard’ sizes (often based around data from a single demographic and therefore exclusive of large proportions of the population), uncomfortable products which prevent patients from using them despite clear clinical need, or devices which are not effective for patients with certain disabilities. Addressing these issues has the potential to help in the reduction of some of the healthcare inequalities experienced by individuals or groups.
The overall aim of the role is to gain a comprehensive and detailed understanding of this area, and to identify the most important areas in which to direct current and future research in order to provide the greatest impact.
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