Intensive collaboration between different disciplines is often not without obstacles—healthcare and creative professionals come from different worlds that are not automatically aligned. This study investigates the research question: how do project partners in Create-Health innovation collaborate across boundaries, and how does it add value to interdisciplinary collaboration? It addresses the close collaborations between researchers and practice partners from creative industry and healthcare sector within ten research projects on eHealth innovation. It describes the way that Create-Health collaboration took shape across disciplinary boundaries and provides examples of boundary crossing from the ten projects, with the objective of stimulating learning in the creative and health sectors on creative ways of working on interdisciplinary projects. Findings focus on the way partners from various backgrounds work together across disciplinary boundaries and on the benefits that such collaborations bring for a project.
Here is something that all Europeans find of prime importance: affordable access to good health care; high quality elderly care; being able to live independently, even if you are handicapped or chronically ill.
MULTIFILE
The psychosocial consequences of growing up with Heritable Connective Tissue Disorders (HCTD) are largely unknown. We aimed to assess Health-Related Quality of Life (HRQoL) and mental health of children and adolescents with HCTD. This observational multicenter study included 126 children, aged 4–18 years, with Marfan syndrome (MFS, n = 74), Loeys–Dietz syndrome (n = 8), molecular confirmed Ehlers–Danlos syndromes (n = 15), and hypermobile Ehlers–Danlos syndrome (hEDS, n = 29). HRQoL and mental health were assessed through the parent and child-reported Child Health Questionnaires (CHQ-PF50 and CHQ-CF45, respectively) and the parent-reported Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire. Compared with a representative general population sample, parent-reported HRQoL of the HCTD-group showed significantly decreased Physical sum scores (p < 0.001, d = 0.9) and Psychosocial sum scores (p = 0.024, d = 0.2), indicating decreased HRQoL. Similar findings were obtained for child-reported HRQoL. The parent-reported mental health of the HCTD-group showed significantly increased Total difficulties sum scores (p = 0.01, d = 0.3), indicating decreased mental health. While the male and female MFS- and hEDS-subgroups both reported decreased HRQoL, only the hEDS-subgroup reported decreased mental health. In conclusion, children and adolescents with HCTD report decreased HRQoL and mental health, with most adverse outcomes reported in children with hEDS and least in those with MFS. These findings call for systematic monitoring and tailored interventions.
