Patient-centered care for vestibular disorders

Despite receiving little attention, vestibular disorders result in loss of vestibular (inner ear) function and create costly health disparities. One-third of the population experiences some form of vestibular loss (VL) that presents with a mix of symptoms, from dizziness to brain fog, that reduces both quality of life and workforce capacity, and, for unknown reasons, is more prevalent and disabling in women. For most individuals with VL, the underlying etiology is unknown, and management is insufficient. Due to its prevalence, disability, and poor management, VL results in aggregated costs likely exceeding €6 billion per year in Europe.

To combat the burden of VL and address the need for innovation along the entire chain, from basic knowledge to new treatments, we mobilize an international team of 13 academic and 9 non-academic partners who unite specialized scientific and clinical expertise, advances in computing, device engineering and remote management platforms, and clinical and patient networks. We synergize these resources to deliver state-of-the-art training necessary for 10 doctoral candidates (DCs) to innovate the new tools (knowledge, approaches, and devices) essential to understand the etiology of VL, capture and interpret (characterize) the relevant symptoms of VL, and expand treatments to restore vestibular function. With collaborative impact activities, we additionally train DCs to enable diverse end users to adopt, use, and further innovate these tools and stakeholders to better advocate for future innovation.

By training new leading experts, we aim to advance patient-centered care of VL and, moreover, reduce healthcare costs and promote sustainable “green” healthcare systems while also enhancing workforce and innovation capacity for individuals with VL and in the emerging academic, clinical, and industrial sectors focused on the care of VL. PROVIDE will be a model for future networks tackling challenges in healthcare and striving for health equity.