MattersEarthly

A summary of articles from the DIRECT and NextStep to Sale Projects.

The DIRECT Project began in Kenya with national stakeholder workshops and extensive field visits to assess rehabilitation services. Early findings show strong interest in digital rehabilitation but highlight challenges such as staff shortages, limited digital skills, and resource constraints.

International research equity requires stronger African-led collaboration and capacity building, as local experts best understand contextual health needs. Partnerships between global north and south enable relevant, sustainable innovations, strengthen knowledge exchange, and improve digital rehabilitation solutions and health outcomes in low‑resource settings.

The DIRECT project aims to establish research driven ecosystems in the Eastern Africa and Southeast Asia regions to create new business opportunities for Finnish companies through evidence-based practice in use of digital rehabilitation in different service and cultural contexts. The project combines basic and applied research and seeks to develop cooperation between public and private sector institutions from Finland and countries from East Africa and Southeast Asia.

The DIRECT team’s first visits to Rwanda and Kenya kicked-off the research activities, gathered insights from professionals and patients, and explored collaboration opportunities. Interviews revealed rehabilitation challenges and enthusiasm for digital solutions, highlighting the crucial role of local partners in supporting impactful, context‑aware implementation.