A €5M Investment to Close the Post-Discharge Care Gap for Children

Dr. Matthew Wiens and colleagues at the Institute for Global Health, BC Children's ResearchInstitute, and the University of British Columbia are leading the first Canadian-led Horizon Europe Pillar 2 project — a €5 million initiative aimed at reducing childhood deaths following hospital discharge after severe infection.

The project, REConeCteD: Risk Enhanced Community Care after Discharge, builds on the Smart Discharges program, which uses digital risk prediction models to identify children at highest risk after discharge and connect them with tailored follow-up care. This work addresses a critical gap in care, as more than one in 20 children under five admitted with suspected sepsis die within six months of discharge, often after returning home.

REConeCteD will digitally link hospital data with community health systems, helping ensure high-risk children are reconnected with community health workers for follow-up, education, and ongoing support. The initiative will be evaluated through a multi-country clinical trial with partners including KEMRI‑Wellcome Trust Research Programme (Kenya), Walimu (Uganda), and Brock University, with the goal of enabling national scale-up.

This work is funded by the European Union under Global Health EDCTP3. Views and opinions expressed are, however, those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of Global Health EDCTP3 nor its members. Neither of the parties can be held responsible for them.