SUMIT is a €6.8 million international project that aims to transform support for people living with substance use and mental health challenges across Northern Ireland and Ireland using digital interventions. Led by Queen’s University Belfast, this project is a partnership between organisations in the Republic of Ireland, Northern Ireland, and Scotland. SUMIT will combine academic expertise, advanced digital implementation, frontline service knowledge, and lived experience to develop three new digital products to enhance, existing health and social care services. These innovations are in direct response to identified challenges that can prevent individuals with substance use and mental health issues from accessing treatment and support.
Researchers and clinicians from DigitAS bring deep expertise in designing and delivering evidence-based digital interventions. Through this international partnership, we aim to ensure our research leads to real-world impact, enhancing service responsiveness, sustainability, and patient experiences across Ireland and beyond.
Our key contributions to the project include:
- Designing and applying digital implementation methods to help develop effective strategies for the introduction, adoption and scaling of the digital products and new service models within Irish addiction services. We will define the scope, inclusion and exclusion criteria, goals and outcomes of the intervention, engage local system leaders and help create the conditions required for successful adoption. Successful implementation will consider aspects such as information and clinical governance, risk management, data standards and service integration.
- Developing and delivering the SUMIT Digital Implementation Guide, applying implementation science to apply learning to develop a cross-border model for the implementation and roll out of a successful digitally enhanced service that supports recovery and reduces burden for service providers and people who use services, and evaluate the methods and strategies that facilitate the development and adoption of the new technologies into practice and evaluate the impact on staff and service users.
- Promoting and facilitating networks across NHS Fife and communities and service providers in Ireland and Northern Ireland to aid acceleration of local implementation that is responsive to identified local challenges.
SUMIT is supported by PEACEPLUS, a programme managed by the Special EU Programmes Body (SEUPB)
