MSF Innovation Newsletter March 2023
It takes two (or more) to innovate
Since the launch of the MSF Sweden Innovation Unit over 10 years ago, we have worked on diverse initiatives, ranging from technical solutions to activities aimed at encouraging behaviour change, and have come to realise that the most successful innovations have one thing in common – collaboration.
In the MSF Sweden Innovation Unit Round-Up 2022, we summarise the main projects and initiatives we worked on during the last year and provide insights into how new and old partnerships played a key role in all of them.
The Digital Therapeutics (DTx) portfolio is one project launched last year which has co-creation with patients, communities, technical developers, and MSF colleagues from across the Movement at its core. Inside this edition of the MSF SIU newsletter, you will find an update from our team's visit to two MSF-run clinics in Lebanon where we will pilot a patient support platform/DTx for people living with diabetes.
This edition also features a somewhat more unusual collaboration (at least from a medical humanitarian perspective). At the Comprehensive Care Centre in Mexico City, Alicia de la Rosa, a psychologist specialising in animal-assisted psychotherapy, works with the therapy dog Onnie to provide mental health support to victims of torture and extreme violence.
We hope you enjoy the read!
Innovation updates from the MSF movement
Digital Therapeutics (DTx) for diabetes: Project visit in Lebanon
📸 Pictured: NCD team members and the MSF SIU DTx team in one of the MSF clinics in Lebanon.
In March 2023, the MSF SIU team supporting the development of a digital therapeutic (DTx) tool for people living with diabetes visited two MSF-run clinics in the Baalback-Hermel governorate in Lebanon. This intervention is being developed to empower patients and caregivers for improved self-management between clinic appointments. The initial concept was developed following a needs assessment centred around 30 in-depth interviews with people living with diabetes (PLWD) in Lebanon and Greece in 2022.
During this visit, the team worked closely with key stakeholders including patients, caregivers and clinicians. The visit was designed to progress further towards a DTx tool co-created with patients. This included speaking with PLWD and caregivers to hear their thoughts and ideas on the DTx mobile app features and the multimedia patient education materials to be included in the tool. In addition to speaking with patients and caregivers, the team mapped the current clinical pathway to ensure that the DTx, when implemented, integrates with the current system in place and is minimally disruptive to the clinical workflow and patient experience.
With the insights gathered during this visit, the MSF SIU team and partners will work to finalise the first version of the DTx and patient education materials and continue pre-testing ahead of the first feasibility implementation in the coming months.
Learn more about the DTx for diabetes case here »
Animal-assisted psychological support to victims of violence in Mexico
At the Comprehensive Care Center in Mexico City, an MSF team of doctors, psychologists, social workers, psychiatrists, and physiotherapists, provides comprehensive - and often long-term - care for migrants and Mexican citizens who have experienced extreme violence on their journey to Mexico or in their country of origin.
One member of this team is Alicia de la Rosa, a psychologist specialising in animal-assisted psychotherapy. At the centre, she is working alongside Onnie, a four-year-old Labrador Retriever, to provide mental health support services.
“Some of the people who have experienced traumatic situations of extreme violence or torture find it difficult to express their emotions and find trust again in others and in their environment,” says Alicia, adding that:
“Working with Onnie gives them a chance to break down barriers so that they can open up to therapists and feel confident to talk about the difficult situations they have experienced."
Learn more about Onnie, his work and how he got his important job here »
Resource highlights
MSF Sweden Innovation Unit Round-Up 2022
Last year, we continued to concentrate on our transversal focus area (Democratisation of Innovation) and our two thematic focus areas (Digital Health and Planetary Health).
The MSF Sweden Innovation Unit Round-Up 2022 provides easy-to-digest insights into our work last year in the form of short case studies.
Read, watch, listen:
An introduction to Digital Therapeutics (DTx) in global health and humanitarian settings
This article on the MSF Sweden Innovation Unit website looks at what the broad field of digital therapeutics encompasses. Making the case for person-centred digital health approaches, this article also provides a snapshot of the MSF digital therapeutics strategy. Read more »Interview with Dikolela Kalubi, MSF's Coordinator for Planetary Health, in the New Humanitarian
In October 2022, the MSF Operational Center Geneva (OCG) published its environmental roadmap, laying out a plan for halving its carbon footprint by 2030. In a February 2023 interview with the New Humanitarian, Dikolela Kalubi, MSF’s Coordinator for Planetary Health, answers questions about the plan in a Q&A on future-proofing emergency aid for the climate crisis. Read more »Twitter Spaces Recording: "Treating drug-resistant tuberculosis: the past, present and future"
This rich conversation features TB PRACTECAL, MSF's clinical trial which has found a new, safer and more effective six-month oral treatment regimen for multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB). In December 2022, results from this trial helped inform the WHO's new guidelines for treatment of MDR-TB. Listen here »CHA paper: "Digital accountability: The untapped potential of participation when using technology in humanitarian action"
In recent years, many humanitarian organisations have begun digitising and digitalising their processes. However, few are using this as an opportunity to involve local actors and stakeholders in their service design and delivery, according to a new paper by the Centre for Humanitarian Action (CHA). The paper "Digital accountability: The untapped potential of participation when using technology in humanitarian action" analyses the tension between digital tech, participation and accountability. Read more »
In our headphones
Conversations on Eco-Grief
Conversations on Eco-Grief with Faith Toran
The second episode of MSF Canada's Eco-Grief Podcast features host Rachel Malena-Chan and Faith Toran, the Communications Coordinator for Climate Smart MSF. Faith shares the story about how she found herself working at the intersection of climate action and humanitarian care and discusses what motivates her on the hard days. Listen here »
Global Health Matters
Episode 20: The promise and perils of future health technology
This episode of the Global Health Matters podcast explores new advances in technologies that are transforming public health practice. Host Dr Garry Aslanyan and guests discuss the promise and perils of artificial intelligence (AI), big data, infodemics and the importance of culturally appropriate innovations. Listen here »
Until next time👋
As always we would love to hear of any global health innovation insights or thoughts. Anything you would like to feature in the next newsletter? Reach out with any questions or comments on comms.siu@stockholm.msf.org or simply reply to this email—we would be delighted to continue the conversation!
Best wishes,
The MSF Sweden Innovation Unit Team