MyAirCoach, a pan-European project lead by the European Federation of Allergy and Airways Diseases Patients’ Associations (EFA), is recruiting patients to develop a monitoring device which is integrated with mobile technology to help people with asthma reduce their risk of an asthma attack.
The EFA is a non-profit network of allergy, asthma and COPD patient organizations, representing 38 national associations in 24 countries and over 400,000 patients.
MyAirCoach will use a network of sensors to collect data about a person’s symptoms, inflammation inside the airways and the environment. The data will be transferred to a mobile device for analysis and will feed into a personalized digital model of each individual’s asthma, supporting patients to better manage their condition and optimise their treatment.
“This is a really innovative use of mobile technology and has the potential to make a big difference to people with asthma to produce a meaningful tool for patients,” said Breda Flood, president of the European Federation of Allergies and Airways Diseases Patients’ Associations.
Given that asthma needs individualised attention, myAirCoach will put patients at the center of their asthma management. The project has set up an Advisory Patient Forum (APF) that will guide researchers to ensure that the resulting self-management system is relevant to patient needs. Patient representatives from EFA and Asthma UK will inform the design of myAirCoach through focus groups and surveys to make sure it is useful to patients in the real world.
Funded by the EU Programme for Research and Innovation Horizon 2020, myAirCoach represents a great opportunity to demonstrate the wider benefits of involving patients in the development of new technologies to improve healthcare.
