Abstract
Background: HealthyAIR is a tool that detects pollution risk in real life. The target population is people with cardiorespiratory complications who are especially susceptible to the current COVID-19. The goal is to empower people by controlling air pollution everywhere to minimize the risk of having a seizure. Methods: We measured the social impact of the HealthyAIR tool using a Likert scale survey with two groups: professionals (engineers/healthcare) and end-users. We assessed the data in accordance with the indicators for social impact defined for the Key Impact Pathways introduced by the European Commission for Horizon Europe, and the criteria of the Social Impact Open Repository (SIOR). Results: Professionals highlight the fact that they “totally agree” (33.33%) and “agree” (26.67%) that HealthyAIR could help authorities improve their health prevention policies and programs. Users considered the tool to be “very useful” (38.46%) and “quite useful” (42.31%), which denotes its necessity. Conclusions: professionals and end users see HealthyAIR as a great preventative tool, with the former seeing it as a way to avoid seizures in their patients who, in this COVID-19 era, are particularly sensitive to any cardiorespiratory health problem. However, users suggest improving the user’s manual to make it more understandable.
Highlights
Science and society face unprecedented times as the social impact of science has evolved into a key point in the debates in all scientific disciplines, which face the challenge of measuring how new discoveries and scientific advancements benefit society [1]
This article aims to fill this gap by examining the social impact reported by the HealthyAIR tool for real-time detection of pollution risks, especially geared to people with cardiorespiratory diseases who have been directly affected by the COVID-19 crisis
This understanding of the social impact of research is linked to the creation of the Social Impact Open Repository (SIOR), which constitutes the first open repository worldwide that displays, cites, and stores the social impact of research results [28,29]
Summary
Science and society face unprecedented times as the social impact of science has evolved into a key point in the debates in all scientific disciplines, which face the challenge of measuring how new discoveries and scientific advancements benefit society [1]. The current COVID-19 pandemic has made the need for science to address major health, economic, and social problems even more evident—problems that are especially affecting the most vulnerable sectors of population [2] Whereas this crisis presents a major challenge for science and society, it may represent a new opportunity to create and enhance efficient and sustainable solutions, so as to improve people’s lives. Beyond its widely studied physiological and environmental effects, Lu [4] pointed out devastating psychological consequences (affective, cognitive, behavioral), and economic and social effects of air pollution Tackling this issue would seem to be a pressing need in order to advance towards Sustainable Development Goals. Users suggest improving the user’s manual to make it more understandable
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