Arcada builds a unique knowledge centre with focus on health tech
Published: 09.02.2022 / Press release
The new learning environment, Arcada Health Tech Hub, offers students, professional occupational therapists and physiotherapists, researchers and companies a space where they can come together around health technology. The centre is built with the support of donations to the fundraising campaign Arcada 25 launched in celebration of Arcada’s 25th anniversary.
Health technology is part of the future and major investments are being made to digitize social and health care. Arcada is now creating a unique Swedish-language knowledge centre in the capital region with a focus on digital solutions in rehabilitation.
– At European level, we have long seen that digital solutions and applications are successfully used to diagnose, follow up and prevent various types of diseases and impairments. Now the same development is starting to pick up speed in Finland, says Annikki Arola, responsible for the degree programme in occupational therapy and one of the driving forces behind the centre.
This requires development of the current methods and services, which in turn places new demands on staff in the social and health care sector. Arcada carries the national responsibility for educating occupational therapists and physiotherapist in Swedish and wants to be at the forefront of the development.
– We must ensure that the experts of the future have the competence and confidence to use new digital solutions in their work. At the moment, the development and use of health technology is not included in the Swedish-language rehabilitation educations in Finland and we now want to change that, says Arola.
Arcada's new learning environment consists of a smart gym and spaces for simulation where health technological solutions are used. The environment is user-centred, placing the end-user at the heart of development, and opens new ways of offering rehabilitation and collecting data for further research. Students can simulate how different disabilities affect everyday life and thereby gain a deeper understanding of what they entail.
The centre is being built with the support of donations from the Tre Smeder Foundation, Helsingestiftelsen and the Héléne and Walter Grönqvist Foundation. The centre will be completed in autumn 2022 by the start of the academic year.
Arcada Health Tech Hub is one of five learning and lab environment included in the Arcada 25 fundraising campaign, marking Arcada’s 25th anniversary. By developing the learning and research environments, Arcada can better respond to society's needs and ensure that high-quality services and expertise are available also in Swedish, both now and in the future.
Photo: Arcada's physiotherapy students are trying out the first simulation possibilities in one of the rooms that are now being developed.
