Innovative medication adherence tools in a real-world hospital setting to reduce anxiety in users of mental health services.
Liege, Belgium – March 3, 2022: Belgium-based AARDEX Group, the global leader in Digital Tools for measuring and managing adherence to medication, today announced they have joined the IT4Anxiety project – supporting the implementation of innovative solutions to reduce the anxiety of people with neurodegenerative diseases or post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
AARDEX Group will lead one of 10 innovative solutions being developed as part of the project. They will enroll their medication adherence tools and solutions, already in use in clinical trials, in a Belgian hospital setting for monitoring medication adherence in daily clinical practice.
Antoine Pironet, Medical Data Scientist, AARDEX Group, comments: “This project is the opportunity to leverage 30 years of proven adherence monitoring technology in drug discovery, to the daily practice offering a data-driven and scientifically-sound adherence management solution to improve mental health service users’ lives.”
Bernard Vrijens, Scientific Lead, AARDEX Group adds “Anxiety is often associated with the diagnosis and management of a disease, particularly in degenerating or life-threatening diseases. Therefore, I am very pleased that AARDEX engages in this project to empower mental health service users for better treatments.”
People that have been given a diagnosis of dementia or cognitive impairment are a population that is particularly impacted by non-adherence to medication compared to cognitively intact populations. Older adults with Alzheimer’s are one of the most impacted subpopulations. This necessitates the need for more support for mental health service users within these populations to ensure that they take their medications and as a result, experience the therapeutic effects that were intended upon prescribing the therapy.
By deploying a mature solution, already used in clinical trials, AARDEX Group will be able to rapidly identify when mental health service users need an adherence intervention in daily practice. Access to both software and hardware solutions, which include smart packaging, will allow automatic detection of specific adherence behaviors to improve caregiver screening, cues for intervention strategies, and self-intervention strategies. The aim of this usability study, initially targeting 100 participants, is to observe how people interact with the solution, so it can be individualized for future mental health service users.
IT4Anxiety brings together mental health professionals, start-ups, universities, research centers, higher education establishments, and public authorities. The project focuses on the creation and implementation of innovative digital solutions, to reduce the anxiety of people diagnosed with neurodegenerative diseases, for example, Alzheimer’s disease, or post-traumatic stress disorder.
Such technological solutions can also effectively complement conventional medical protocols as ‘blended therapies’, which are the heart of the approach developed in the project.
Vinciane de Moffarts from Centre Neuro Psychiatrique Saint-Martin in Namur (IT4Anxiety lead partner) adds: “Mental health problems are affecting a growing number of mental health service users in North-West Europe, due to ageing population trends. We aim to bring together cross-sector expertise to co-create and implement innovative solutions addressing the needs of around 3,000 people living with mental health problems.”
About AARDEX
AARDEX Group is the global leader in digital solutions to measure and manage medication adherence. With operations in Belgium, Switzerland, and the U.S., AARDEX develops and markets digital solutions for adherence-enhancing strategies in clinical trials, research settings, and professional healthcare systems. AARDEX is the central actor of a complete ecosystem that combines its MEMS® Adherence Software with a wide range of smart packages and devices that measure patient adherence across all routes of drug administration. AARDEX’s vision is to continuously innovate in data-driven medication adherence solutions to enhance digital therapeutics and patient empowerment. www.aardexgroup.com
About IT4Anxiety
IT4Anxiety aims to support the implementation of innovative solutions through start-ups with the objective of reducing the anxiety of patients suffering from mental disorders
Technological innovations give new perspectives in many domains, including health. It was in this context that the IT4Anxiety project was born bringing together mental health professionals and startups, but also universities, research centers, higher education establishments and public authorities.
The project focuses more specifically on the creation and implementation of innovative solutions, in particular those related to digital technology, with the objective of reducing the anxiety of patients suffering from neurodegenerative diseases (e.g. Alzheimer‘s disease) or post-traumatic stress disorder. These mental illnesses affect a growing number of patients in North-West Europe, due to ageing population trends. https://www.nweurope.eu/projects/project-search/it4anxiety-managing-anxiety-via-innovative-technologies-for-better-mental-health/
