PREMIUM Project 2026-2027: MUMC+, Centre for Home Mechanical Ventilation Maastricht

Investigate how this centre can rethink and redesign parts of chronic home ventilation care in a more sustainable, future-proof and patient-centred way, while maintaining quality and safety of care.
  • MUMC

    The Project:

    Rethinking Home Ventilation Care for a Sustainable Future

    How can we reimagine complex healthcare in a way that is smarter, more human, and still fully safe and high-quality?

    At the Centre for Home Mechanical Ventilation Maastricht (CTbM), part of Maastricht UMC+, we support patients who depend on chronic mechanical ventilation at home. This is not just “care” in the traditional sense; it is a whole ecosystem. It involves healthcare professionals, patients, informal caregivers, technology, equipment, logistics, home visits, digital tools, and close collaboration with external partners.

    And this is exactly where the challenge and the opportunity lie.

    We invite you to really step into this world and rethink it with us. Not from the outside, but as if you are already part of the team. Because we believe there is so much potential to do things differently, better, and more future-proof.

    Where do we feel unnecessary pressure or complexity that could be reduced? Which moments truly require physical presence, and where could digital or hybrid care safely take over? How can we make logistics smarter, reduce waste, and improve coordination? And just as importantly, how can we give patients more autonomy, more confidence, and more control over their own care? We also challenge you to look critically at our routines. What do we do simply because “this is how it has always been done," and is that still the best way forward?

    In this project, you will dive into real practice, guidelines, scientific literature, and most importantly, the experiences of everyone involved. You will work together with stakeholders, professionals, and patients to understand what truly matters and where change can make a real difference. The objective of this project is both to discover where opportunities for sustainable improvement exist and to design a practical direction for more sustainable and future-proof home ventilation care. For example, through a model, roadmap, toolkit, advisory report, implementation proposal or prototype.

    This is not just about making healthcare more efficient or more sustainable. It is about something bigger and more exciting: co-creating the future of home ventilation care. Care that is safe, deeply patient-centered, sustainable, and ready for the world of tomorrow.

    And the best part? Your ideas will not stay on paper. They have the potential to directly influence how CTbM organizes care in real life.

    This is your chance to think boldly, collaborate closely, and help shape something that truly matters.
     

  • The Client:

    The Centre for Home Mechanical Ventilation Maastricht (CTbM), part of Maastricht UMC+, supports patients who need chronic mechanical ventilation outside the hospital. The aim of home ventilation care is to enable patients to live as safely and independently as possible in their own home or living environment.
    Home ventilation care is complex and long-term. It involves medical treatment, nursing care, technical support, patient education, equipment, disposables, logistics, digital care, informal caregivers, and collaboration with external partners. As this care mainly takes place outside the hospital, we continuously evaluate how it can remain safe, patient-centered, sustainable and future-proof.
     

    We are looking for students who are curious, critical and creative. The project should explore sustainability in the broadest sense rather than focus on one small sustainability intervention. Patient safety and quality of care must always come first, and the current guideline for chronic ventilation should be used as an important starting point. The perspective of healthcare professionals should be included and, where possible, also those of patients, informal caregivers and external partners. Students are encouraged to explore opportunities in material use, logistics, digital care, patient education, work processes and collaboration with suppliers. The final recommendations should be practical and useful for daily practice.
     
  • design oriented

    In this project, the focus is on “creating something new”


     
    Formal client

    This client provides an assignment and perceives the team of students as consultants doing a job for them. The formal client provides guidance and supports the team with feedback, but is not actively involved in project execution.