Three Perspectives, One Project: Voices from Engineering, Psychology, and Medicine in ProtAct-Us

ProtAct-Us unites engineering sciences, medicine, and social sciences to advance understanding of road traffic injuries and reduce their long-term consequences. In this interview, project partners Caroline Deck (UNISTRA), Maria Papadakaki (HMU), and Heiko Johannsen (MHH) explain the role of their fields, the challenges they face in addressing long-term impacts of crashes, and how multidisciplinary collaboration drives more effective protective solutions and policies.

How would you describe, in just a few words, the role of your field within ProtAct-Us?

Caroline Deck from UNISTRA (CD): Engineering sciences — and more specifically impact biomechanics — aim to understand the mechanical tolerance limits of the human body under impact and to identify the mechanisms leading to injuries, including long-term effects. In this context, UNISTRA’s expertise on human head impact tolerance provides an essential contribution to the ProtAct-Us project.

Maria Papadakaki from HMU (MP): Our contribution to the ProtAct-Us project will be to understand social and economic contexts behind the long term consequences of road traffic injuries and then to facilitate effective translation of injury data into recommendations on actionable safety measures that reduce these consequences. We will further contribute in understanding the economic burden of road traffic injuries at both individual and societal levels and will estimate the savings in healthcare costs and societal impacts achieved via engineering and other road safety solutions. In that way we will ensure that evidence-based recommendations generated in the ProtAct-Us project are not only scientifically valid but also economically viable and socially appropriate.

Heiko Johannsen from MHH (HJ): I see our team as bridge between engineering, psychology/social science and medicine.

What do you see as the biggest challenge for your field in the context of the project?

CD: The main challenge for engineering sciences within the project is to better understand injuries that lead to long-term consequences, going beyond purely physical damage to also consider the psychological trauma experienced by accident victims. One of the key challenges is therefore to integrate insights from the social sciences to address this issue comprehensively.

MP: Our biggest challenge is the absence of systematic, comparable follow-up data after acute care, which complicates long-term social impact assessment of injuries. We measure incidence and mortality, but we do not routinely measure life impact. There is very limited person-level information on functioning, return-to-work, and social participation. Data responsibility is fragmented across health, rehabilitation, social protection and employment systems.

HJ: On the one hand accident data analysis was challenging and will still be. On the other hand the main challenge was to develop a questionnaire that covers different kinds of long-term consequences, is suitable in different set-ups and still acceptable for the interviewed people w.r.t. timing and data protection.

The greatest opportunity offered by ProtAct-Us lies in the ability to bring together multiple fields of expertise”

Caroline Deck

What is the greatest opportunity that ProtAct-Us offers to your field?

CD: The greatest opportunity offered by ProtAct-Us lies in the ability to bring together multiple fields of expertise — engineering and impact biomechanics, psychology, social sciences, and medicine. This multidisciplinary collaboration enriches our understanding and fosters joint reflection on how to develop and improve future protective solutions.

MP: Combining our socioeconomic perspectives with clinical insights on recovery pathways and engineering knowledge of protective technologies, allows for a multifaceted understanding of injury causes and consequences and ensures that technical and clinical innovations are integrated within broader social realities and bring meaningful changes for individuals and systems.

HJ: To consider long-term consequences in accident is one of the most crucial developments of today. Developing a harmonised protocol for acquiring data on long-term consequences is an important step.

In what ways does your field complement the other two main components of the project?

CD: Engineering sciences, and in particular impact biomechanics, help to understand the circumstances of an accident and the mechanical loads experienced by victims and their tissues. This discipline also contributes to the design of protective systems suited to the various injury mechanisms that may lead to long-term consequences, while integrating insights from the other two fields of the project — social sciences and medicine.

MP: We complement clinicians and engineers by bringing the socioeconomic explanations and policy lens. Engineers can tell us what is technically possible. Clinicians can tell us how injuries affect the body and the health system in the long-term. We add knowledge about the socioeconomic and structural factors that cause long-term consequences and offer insights to guide policy decisions.

HJ: Identifying issues is the first step to develop countermeasures.

We add knowledge about the socioeconomic and structural factors that cause long-term consequences and offer insights to guide policy decisions.”

Maria Papadakaki

If you had to summarize your field’s contribution in a single word or expression, which one would you choose?

CD: Reducing the risk of long-term human injuries in the event of an accident.

MP: Translate evidence into societally and economically impactful road safety interventions.

HJ: Basics.

 To consider long-term consequences in accident is one of the most crucial developments of today.”

Heiko Johannsen

About the partners