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Development projects
Research and development
At West Tallinn Central Hospital, our research and development work focuses on creating innovative solutions that benefit patients and society alike. Our team takes part in collaborative projects that have led to new treatment services and post-treatment support programmes now used across the Estonian healthcare system.
Our aim is to improve healthcare by introducing and implementing modern, evidence-based treatments and approaches that make a real difference to patients. We also work on achieving and maintaining clinical certifications to ensure our services meet high international standards.
Our research and development activities bring value to:
- patients – by offering better treatment outcomes and rehabilitation opportunities
- healthcare professionals – by providing access to new tools and methods
- society – by delivering sustainable, evidence-based solutions
A pilot project on the treatment pathway for post-stroke patients
West Tallinn Central Hospital carried out a project aimed at analysing the potential for integrating health and social services and the challenges this entails within the post-stroke patient journey.
In 2019, the Estonian Health Insurance Fund launched a pilot project to evaluate an integrated approach to post-stroke care. A key feature of the project was that the patient's local authority social worker was immediately included in the stroke team during the acute phase. The first meeting with the local authority social worker took place before the patient was discharged from the stroke centre. Working with local authority social workers, the project mapped opportunities for collaboration during the early stages of stroke recovery. Qualitative analysis was based on in-depth interviews with eleven patients.
The results of the project showed that early involvement of local authority social workers as part of a multidisciplinary team enabled the delivery of comprehensive, patient-centred care. Several bottlenecks were identified, including limited resources (staff, time, expertise), a lack of interoperability between information systems, and their unsuitability for implementing new processes. A successful integrated service model requires coordinated health and social policies that actively support cooperation between all parties. This pilot project was the first to include a local authority social worker in the stroke team from the very beginning, bridging the gap between medical care and social work.
The results were published in the international scientific journal Health Policy (Vol. 159) as “The opportunities and challenges of integrating health and social care in the post-stroke patient journey: perceptions of Estonian professionals”. The authors of the article are Kadi Lubi (Senior Researcher, TalTech eHealth Centre), Maarja-Liis Elland (Junior Researcher, Institute of Health Technologies), Prof. Peeter Ross, Dr Katrin Gross-Paju (Head of the Neurology and Psychiatry Clinic, West Tallinn Central Hospital), and Helin Pevkur (Project Manager, West Tallinn Central Hospital).
The project was funded by the Estonian Health Insurance Fund. You can read the full article here: ScienceDirect