Unit information: Digital Health: Context and adoption in 2026/27

Please note: Programme and unit information may change as the relevant academic field develops. We may also make changes to the structure of programmes and assessments to improve the student experience.

Unit name Digital Health: Context and adoption
Unit code SEMTM0019
Credit points 20
Level of study M/7
Teaching block(s) Teaching Block 2 (weeks 13 - 24)
Unit director Dr. Hanna Kristiina Isotalus
Open unit status Not open
Units you must take before you take this one (pre-requisite units)

None

Units you must take alongside this one (co-requisite units)

None

Units you may not take alongside this one

None

School/department School of Engineering Mathematics and Technology
Faculty Faculty of Engineering

Unit Information

Why is this unit important?

Students come to work in Digital Health from diverse backgrounds such as engineering, medicine and business. Throughout their careers, Digital Health professionals will collaborate within multidisciplinary teams to solve problems and innovate. This unit offers students valuable hands-on experience of working in multidisciplinary teams to brainstorm and devise solutions to various challenges and opportunities pertinent to Digital Health.

How does this unit fit into your programme of study

The aim of this unit is to provide students with the opportunity to engage deeply with hypothetical but realistic challenges pertinent to digital health. These digital health case studies will be framed within the context of the clinical challenge and global healthcare systems, with an emphasis on addressing the diverse needs of individuals, including patients, carers and healthcare professionals.

Your learning on this unit

An overview of content

Students will engage with a series of Digital Health case studies during the course of the year, progressing in complexity and based on a real-world scenario. Each case study will be presented alongside materials that help students develop the skills that they will need to understand the problem and develop solutions.. These materials will be presented in a range of formats including lectures, seminars, directed reading, and video content. After the case study and relevant background materials have been presented, students will explore digital health solutions pertinent to the cases and work in groups to create deliverables pertinent to the cases.

In each case study, students will consider

  • Clinical challenges, such as diagnosis and treatment of Type I diabetes
  • Types of digital health technologies used to address the clinical challenges, such as artificial pancreas
  • Determinants of health, such as impact of digital inclusion and exclusion
  • Global challenges and differences in healthcare delivery, resource and context, such as dataflows and digitisation of health and care delivery
  • Business models for novel digital health technologies
  • The impact of digital technologies on individuals and healthcare systems

How will students, personally, be different as a result of the unit

Students will acquire skills in problem-solving and working in multidisciplinary teams. They will gain core knowledge about different health systems and digital health technologies, pertinent to clinical and societal needs.

Learning outcomes

On successful completion of this unit, students will be able to:

  1. Explain and critically discuss basic clinical issues and approaches for improving peoples’ health and wellbeing grounded in available clinical evidence.
  2. Apply and integrate knowledge of a range of potential technical solutions to improve or understand health and wellbeing and healthcare delivery.
  3. Discuss and critically evaluate different health systems in the context of digitalisation.
  4. Summarise what considerations must be made for a successful digital health business model.
  5. Work effectively as part of a small group to explore a challenge in digital health from a range of perspectives while also demonstrating awareness of the benefits and importance of inclusivity in teamwork.

How you will learn

This unit will use a case-based learning approach with small groups of students supported by a facilitator. It is intended to engage the students with realistic and compelling situations and creates opportunities for peer learning by leveraging the differing strengths of a cross discipline intake to the Unit. This approach will naturally encourage practice of interdisciplinary communication skills - closely mimicking the real-world situations that individuals working in the digital health field are likely to encounter. Each case will also be accompanied with essential learning materials, such as lectures, seminars, webinars and/or reading lists.

How you will be assessed

Tasks which help you learn and prepare you for summative tasks (formative):

In groups, students will produce deliverables for each of the case studies considered. The group facilitators will give feedback throughout this process, and this feedback will help prepare students for making their group presentations.

Tasks which count towards your unit mark (summative):

Exam (50%) covering ILOs 1 to 4

The exam will be timetabled during the summer exam period as an in-person written exam with essay and/or short answer questions.

Group video presentation (50%) covering all ILOs

Students will work together in to put together a recorded presentation that explores a digital health case study in some depth. Student engagement and contribution to the group presentation will be monitored through observation by supervisors and through peer evaluation; these will be used to assign an individual moderated mark for the project to each student. Active engagement throughout the unit is required in order to achieve a passing grade.

Group and individual marks for the recorded presentation will also be informed by an in-person Q+A session that will be scheduled during the assessment period and in which students discuss their work and answer questions. Active participation in the Q+A session or equivalent is mandatory.

When assessment does not go to plan:

Re-assessment of the exam takes the same form as the original summative assessment.

If the group supervisors are satisfied that a student has engaged with their group and that ILO 5 has been achieved, then re-assessment of the group video presentation will take the form of an individual video presentation. If ILO 5 has not been demonstrated, then re-assessment is only possible as part of a supplementary year.

Resources

If this unit has a Resource List, you will normally find a link to it in the Blackboard area for the unit. Sometimes there will be a separate link for each weekly topic.

If you are unable to access a list through Blackboard, you can also find it via the Resource Lists homepage. Search for the list by the unit name or code (e.g. SEMTM0019).

How much time the unit requires
Each credit equates to 10 hours of total student input. For example a 20 credit unit will take you 200 hours of study to complete. Your total learning time is made up of contact time, directed learning tasks, independent learning and assessment activity.

See the University Workload statement relating to this unit for more information.

Assessment
The assessment methods listed in this unit specification are designed to enable students to demonstrate the named learning outcomes (LOs). Where a disability prevents a student from undertaking a specific method of assessment, schools will make reasonable adjustments to support a student to demonstrate the LO by an alternative method or with additional resources.

The Board of Examiners will consider all cases where students have failed or not completed the assessments required for credit. The Board considers each student's outcomes across all the units which contribute to each year's programme of study. For appropriate assessments, if you have self-certificated your absence, you will normally be required to complete it the next time it runs (for assessments at the end of TB1 and TB2 this is usually in the next re-assessment period).
The Board of Examiners will take into account any exceptional circumstances and operates within the Regulations and Code of Practice for Taught Programmes.