An innovative approach to designing digital health solutions addressing the unmet needs of obese patients in Europe

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the worldwide obesity rate has tripled since 1975. In Europe, more than half of the population is overweight and obese. Around 2.8 million people die each year worldwide as a result of conditions linked to being overweight or obese. This study aimed to analyze the policies, approaches, and solutions that address the social and health unmet needs of obese patients, at different levels, in order to simulate the definition of an integrated approach, and to provide and share examples of innovative solutions supporting health promotion, disease prevention, and integration of services to improve the collaboration between the different health and care stakeholders involved across the country and in the lives of obese patients. A collaborative approach involving various levels of government and regional experts from different European countries was applied to identify, explore, and evaluate different aspects of the topic, from the innovation perspective and focusing on a European and a regional vision. Currently, people prefer more foods rich in fats, sugars, and salt/sodium than fruits, vegetables, and fiber. This behavior leads to a significant negative impact on their health-related quality of life. Changes in healthcare systems, healthy policy, and approaches to patient care and better implementation of the different prevention strategies between all the stakeholders are needed, taking advantage of the digital transformation of health and care. Such changes can support obese patients in their fight against an unhealthy lifestyle and at the same time reduce healthcare costs

Digitally enabled health service for the integrated management of hypertension: A participatory user-centred design process

This article describes a user-centred approach taken by a group of five procurers to set specifications for the procurement of value-based research and development services for IT-sup-ported integrated hypertension management. The approach considered the unmet needs of patients and health systems of the involved regions. The procurers established a framework for requirements and a solution design consisting of nine building blocks, divided into three domains: service delivery, devices and integration, and health care organisation. The approach included the development of questionnaires, capturing patients’ and professionals’ views on possible system functionalities, and a template collecting information about the organisation of healthcare, professionals involved and existing IT systems at the procurers’ premises. A total of 28 patients diagnosed with hypertension and 26 professionals were interviewed. The interviewees identified 98 functional requirements, grouped in the nine building blocks. A total of nine use cases and their corresponding process models were defined by the procurers’ working group. As result, a digitally enabled integrated approach to hypertension has been designed to allow citizens to learn how to prevent the development of hypertension and lead a healthy lifestyle, and to receive comprehensive, individualised treatment in close collaboration with healthcare professionals

European Specifications for Value-based Pre-Commercial Procurement of Innovative ICT for Empowerment and Self-management of Diabetes Mellitus Patients

Current demographic changes require a paradigm shift in the delivery of health and social services. Wide-scale implementation of validated ICT support to clinicians and patients is essential to ensure the quality of services to future generations of citizens. Healthcare providers from four European regions - Turkey, Portugal, Campania and Murcia- have joined forces to procure an innovative ICT solution for patient empowerment and self-management for patients with diabetes mellitus. The procurement is in the form of a joint pre-commercial procurement (PCP) of Research & Development, with participation by EU industry in competitive phases of development. The PCP is part of the EU-funded project ProEmpower, which is currently in the prototype testing phase. The challenge faced by the procurers was to jointly define specifications for the envisioned solution that reflect the needs of all four regions. After an intensive year of consultations with procurers' experts - clinicians, IT staff, procurement specialists - ProEmpower launched a call for tender with the defined specifications, which reflect the unmet needs across the procuring regions with regards to improving management of diabetes mellitus supported by ICT. This paper presents the ProEmpower specifications, which can be easily adapted to the local conditions of any procuring region in Europe and beyond. The specifications thus represent a valuable source for any new development of ICT-supported diabetes management

Developing a digital environment for the management of chronic conditions: The proempower experience of a Horizon 2020 PCP for type 2 diabetes

Demographic change represents the most significant challenge of the 21st century. The aging population around the world will foster a consequent change in labor markets, wealth distribution, request of goods and services, as well as social and healthcare needs. The number of survivors to once deadly conditions, as well as the age associated increase in degenerative chronic conditions will represent a severe stress to our systems, that will not be sustainable any longer. At the same time, longevity might become an opportunity for the re-organization of services, leading to a new era of opportunities for economic and social prosperity. These challenges require a strong interdisciplinary approach in the identification of unmet needs, and new social, health and technological solutions, that are demand-driven and user-oriented. ICT is going to be the key to many of these revolutionary services. The European Community has proposed a new grant instrument to foster the collaboration between public administration and ICT industry for purchasing Research and Development services in order to develop a novel Information and Communication Technology solution, called Pre Commercial Procurement. ProEmpower is such a project aimed to enable patients to early diagnosis, daily management, and clinical data collection for people with type 2 diabetes. The project goes through a call for tenders issued by a consortium of four public procurers, that jointly defined a set of requirements and use cases, in collaboration with end-users, for the development of innovative solutions This manuscript describes the process that has led to the selection of two solutions that will be tested by end users in the four regions

The Reference Site Collaborative Network of the European Innovation Partnership on Active and Healthy Ageing.

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Transfer of innovation on allergic rhinitis and asthma multimorbidity in the elderly (MACVIA-ARIA) - EIP on AHA Twinning Reference Site (GARD research demonstration project)

The overarching goals of the European Innovation Partnership on Active and Healthy Ageing (EIP on AHA) are to enable European citizens to lead healthy, active and independent lives whilst ageing. The EIP on AHA includes 74 Reference Sites. The aim of this study was to transfer innovation from an app developed by the MACVIA-France EIP on AHA reference site (Allergy Diary) to other reference sites. The phenotypic characteristics of rhinitis and asthma multimorbidity in adults and the elderly will be compared using validated information and communication technology (ICT) tools (i.e. the Allergy Diary and CARAT: Control of Allergic Rhinitis and Asthma Test) in 22 Reference Sites or regions across Europe. This will improve the understanding, assessment of burden, diagnosis and management of rhinitis in the elderly by comparison with an adult population. Specific objectives will be: (i) to assess the percentage of adults and elderly who are able to use the Allergy Diary, (ii) to study the phenotypic characteristics and treatment over a 1-year period of rhinitis and asthma multimorbidity at baseline (cross-sectional study) and (iii) to follow-up using visual analogue scale (VAS). This part of the study may provide some insight into the differences between the elderly and adults in terms of response to treatment and practice. Finally (iv) work productivity will be examined in adults. © 2017 EAACI and John Wiley and Sons A/S. Published by John Wiley and Sons Ltd

The reference site collaborative network of the european innovation partnership on active and healthy ageing

Seventy four Reference Sites of the European Innovation Partnership on Active and Healthy Ageing (EIP on AHA) have been recognised by the European Commission in 2016 for their commitment to excellence in investing and scaling up innovative solutions for active and healthy ageing. The Reference Site Collaborative Network (RSCN) brings together the EIP on AHA Reference Sites awarded by the European Commission, and Candidate Reference Sites into a single forum. The overarching goals are to promote cooperation, share and transfer good practice and solutions in the development and scaling up of health and care strategies, policies and service delivery models, while at the same time supporting the action groups in their work. The RSCN aspires to be recognized by the EU Commission as the principal forum and authority representing all EIP on AHA Reference Sites. The RSCN will contribute to achieve the goals of the EIP on AHA by improving health and care outcomes for citizens across Europe, and the development of sustainable economic growth and the creation of jobs