Projects

Project title ICT for health: Strengthening social capacities for the utilisation of eHealth technologies in the framework of ageing population
Summary All European regions are facing the forthcoming demographic change and ageing population with strong impact on the health care systems. More chronically sick people will lead to an increasing demand for health care services and subsequently to a higher cost pressure on the health systems. This challenge for the health care systems is of high strategic relevance for the whole Baltic Sea Region. Against this background the citizens contribution to prevention and treatment is crucial to ensure future health care supply in an ageing society.
In particular citizens with chronic diseases have to be enabled for self-management with better access to personal health data. The pervasive integration of ICT in health care supply (eHealth) can support citizens with chronic diseases in their prevention and treatment. A precondition is to raise the acceptance and capacities of both citizens and health care professionals to use eHealth applications. Although basic ehealth technology is widely available the project partners consider a deployment problem in the regional health care systems as a main barrier to be overcome.
The project aims to better exploit the potentials of ICT in health for more involvement of chronically sick people in their prevention and treatment in the Baltic Sea partner regions. As starting point the partners will compare the impact of the demographic change and ageing population on the health care systems and identify transferable best-practice in eHealth. These analyses will lead to a transnational benchmark system on the demographic change and ageing society regarding the BSR health care systems. This benchmark will initiate ongoing policy discussions on successful eHealth approaches especially for citizens with chronic diseases in the regions.
Furthermore the project has three pilot implementation areas: The deployment of a comprehensive self-learning and monitoring system for chronic heart failure patients, the development and run of education on eHealth for students, health care professionals and citizens for better acceptance and capacity building and finally the implementation of a personal health portal for better access of citizens with chronic diseases to international understandable health data especially when travelling abroad. The project partnership is composed of medical professionals from hospitals, universities, regional administrations for health care and regional planning, municipalities and counties as well as telemedicine experts covering almost the whole Baltic Sea Region.
As a strategic project the partners have strong political backup on national and regional level. The project benefits from the eHealth for Regions network and its Political Strategic Board set up during a previous Interreg III B project. On the basis of this network the project findings and results will be widely discussed and reflected by national and regional policy makers and stakeholders throughout the project.
Status Running
Start - End January 2010 - December 2012
EU programme Interreg IV B
Contact person Nils Dardemann
Flensburg University of Applied Sciences
E-Mail: nils.dardemann@fh-flensburg.de
Objectives The project’s overall aim is
  • To better exploit the potentials of ICT in health for more involvement of chronically sick people in their prevention and treatment in the Baltic Sea partner regions.
The project objectives are
  • To analyse and compare the future impact of the demographic change and ageing population on the health care systems and on the level of supply and quality of services in the Baltic Sea Regions.
  • To set up a transnational benchmark system for continuous monitoring of the impact of the demographic change on regional health care systems initiating ongoing policy and further stakeholder discussions on successful e-health approaches in the regions.
  • To identify regional strategies and good-practice in counteracting the challenges of demographic change with ageing and declining population and more chronically sick people in the health care sector through ICT and eHealth as basis for a joint transnational strategy.
  • To implement in a joint pilot IT supported self-learning and monitoring systems with immediate feedback from medical professionals for patients with chronic heart failure to demonstrate the benefit of patient empowerment in the regions.
  • To develop and run in a joint pilot project education and training courses on e-health for citizens, students and medical professionals to raise the awareness and capacity to use eHealth applications.
  • To develop and implement in a joint pilot project a personal health portal for chronic patients travelling abroad providing access to international understandable patient data thereby enhancing transnational mobility of citizens with chronic diseases.
  • To widely spread the project findings and results for discussions and feedback from policy makers and further stakeholders in the Baltic Sea Region.
E-Health application used in a transnational context
  • a multilingual web-based learning course and self-monitoring system including medical feedback for citizens with chronic heart failure jointly developed and implemented by international partners
  • multidimensional eHealth courses for citizens with chronic diseases, medical professionals and students jointly developed and run by international partners
  • a personal health portal for travelling citizens with chronic diseases with internationally understandable health data
Planned
Activities The project activities are structured in following work-packages:
  • WP 1 Project management and administration
  • WP 2 Communication and information
  • WP 3 ICT for health - strategies for counteracting the demographic change in Baltic Sea regions
  • WP 4 Pilot: Empowerment of citizens with chronic diseases for prevention and self-monitoring
  • WP 5 Pilot: Education on eHealth for health care professionals and citizens with chronic diseases
  • WP 6 Pilot: Personal health portal for travelling citizens with chronic diseases
Output
  • Analysis of impact of demographic development on health care systems in the Baltic Sea Region (BSR) and overview of transferable best-practice on e-health
  • Transnational benchmark system for monitoring of demographic influence on health care systems in the BSR
  • Joint strategic options for the implementation of e-health to counteract the impact of demographic change and ageing population on the health care systems in the partner regions
  • Self-monitoring and self-learning system for patients with chronic heart failure and business plan for market entry after project finalisation
  • Education and training  courses on e-health run in the partner countries including self-learning materials for citizens with chronic diseases
  • Personal health portal with international understandable medical information for travelling citizens with chronic diseases
Partners Denmark:
  • Aalborg University, Department of Development and Planning
  • Region of South Denmark
  • North Denmark Region
Finland:
  • Seinäjoki University of Applied Sciences
  • South Ostrobothnia Healthcare District
  • Regional Council of South Ostrobothnia
Germany:
  • Flensburg University of Applied Sciences
  • European Institute for Telemedicine e.V.
  • Lübeck University, Institute for Cancer Epidemiology
  • District of Pinneberg
  • District of Segeberg
  • Gesundheitsforum Segeberg
  • Schleswig-Holsteinische Krebsgesellschaft
Lithuania:
  • Kaunas University of Medicine
  • Kaunas University of Technology
  • Vilnius University Hospital
Poland:
  • Municipality of Sopot
  • City Hospital Lebork
  • Medical University of Gdańsk
Russia:
  • Pavlov State Medical University, St. Petersburg
Sweden:
  • Hässleholm Hospital

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