Sustainable development (SD) presents challenges for healthcare and highlights the importance of effective preventive measures. Healthcare costs account for 10% of GDP in Sweden and globally, with diabetes-related expenses making up 10% of total healthcare costs. Preventive treatments can reduce diabetic foot ulcers (DFUs) and amputations by half, offering significant ecological, economic, and social benefits to patients, healthcare providers, society, and ecosystems. We present methods to measure sustainability in healthcare, providing quantitative estimates of the ecological, economic, and social benefits of efficient prevention for patients with a foot at risk.. Two case studies are discussed.
Case 1: A new approach to providing insoles for diabetes patients reduced costs by half. A software tool was developed to help Prosthetics and Orthotics Departments register, analyze, and report the sustainability effects of different choices. The results highlight the impacts on patients, employers, healthcare providers, society, and ecosystems.
Case 2: The sustainability of materials used in footwear to prevent DFUs, such as polyurethane and ethylene vinyl acetate, is examined. Environmental impacts, biomechanical properties, and clinical performance are explored, identifying research gaps and future directions for sustainable footwear design. Key research gaps and future directions for footwear design, in the prevention of DFUs, including sustainability aspects, will be presented.
Join us to discuss how to enhance and develop sustainability measurements for assistive devices in DFU prevention and care.
Statement of the objective / learning objectives
Attendees will understand methods to measure sustainability in healthcare, particularly in prevention of foot ulcers and gain insights into ecological, economic, and social benefits of sustainable solutions in prosthetics and footwear design.
