Dynamic Conference on Digital Health (Sev-bcn)
A hundred people, including chronic patients, health professionals and experts from the ICT sector, met on November 15 and 22 in Seville and Barcelona, respectively, to
A hundred patients and health professionals jointly analyze the advantages of digital health
- The Lovexair Foundation brought together a hundred people in Seville and Barcelona, including patients and healthcare professionals and information technology experts, to discuss the growing use of mobile devices and applications in the healthcare sector.
- The meetings made it possible to interact with various health devices, such as digital spirometers and physical rehabilitation games, to put active life into practice through a Nordic Walking tour.
A hundred people, including chronic patients, health professionals and experts from the ICT sector, met on November 15 and 22 in Seville and Barcelona, respectively, to learn first-hand about the advantages of digital health on a day-to-day basis of chronic and respiratory diseases.
The first edition of the "Dynamic Conference on Digital Health for health professionals and chronic and respiratory patients", convened by the Lovexair Foundation, sought to facilitate the meeting between patients and professionals to discuss the advantages of digitization in the health field, and how these tools can meet the demands of the population and ensure patient empowerment.
The conferences made it possible to address topics of interest such as behavior change and patient motivation or the steps to follow in the future of connected health, hand in hand with experts from the health, technology and patient environment sectors, including DKV Seguros, Fundació TIC Salut Social, Digital Health Association, Andalusian School of Public Health, Spanish Patient Forum or the Neuroespai team of psychologists. All of them addressed the role that health applications and telemedicine play in providing health services that complement the current health structure.
Demonstration area and Nordic Walking
It was not all theory. The Foundation's conferences were characterized by their dynamism and by allowing, on the one hand, Nordic walking as a way of showing the need to be more active in daily life and, on the other hand, providing attendees with demonstrations of the use of some digital health devices. In this way, patients and professionals were able to learn to perform digital spirometry, calculate the composition of their body volume in a matter of seconds, play games for cognitive and physical recovery or learn about the facilities of the HappyAir program for the professional monitoring of chronic respiratory patients. .
Digital health advances, but not enough
The conferences highlighted that, at present, the health sector continues to be one of the most complex: while notable progress in digitization is observed in many other areas, the health sector finds serious difficulties in implementing these new advances and make them available to health professionals and citizens.
In recent years, we have witnessed significant progress in the use of ICT tools. Among other advances, the implementation of the electronic prescription, the digital medical record, or the importance of Big Data stands out, since according to a study published by the National Observatory of Telecommunications and the Information Society (ONTSI) Big Data is fundamental to guarantee the sustainability of the National Health System 1.
Likewise, this heyday for new technologies has given rise to a new patient profile, since according to a survey published by ONTSI, more than 60% of citizens consult the Internet for issues related to health 2. For this reason, the transformation digital must also include patients and it is necessary to train users in the use of these new tools, since, as shown by several studies, the use of ICT applied to the health system reduces the number of hospital admissions.
In this sense, the use of games to promote active life or applications that guarantee a patient's adherence to treatment are tools that contribute to facilitating the daily work of the health professional, in addition to offering solutions that respond to the needs of the patient.
Digital health is, therefore, very useful for patients, family members, health professionals and for the national health system, but there are still difficulties when it comes to introducing these new technologies.
Next steps
The good reception of the conferences, both by health professionals and patients, prompts the Lovexair Foundation to plan new similar conferences in other Spanish cities throughout 2018 and 2019. Similarly, the fruitful relationships established with As a result of the events in Seville and Barcelona with health centers, hospitals and ICT companies, we are encouraged to replicate these events in these two venues, in order to continue working to consolidate the community of chronic respiratory patients and offer them our support and accompaniment.
We invite you to watch the videos of our events in Seville and Barcelona and follow our hashtag #SaludDigitalLovexair to keep you informed of upcoming events. Enjoy the tour!
Video Summary (Seville, November 15)
References:
National Telecommunications and IS Observatory (ONTSI)
Data extracted from a study published by the National Telecommunications and IS Observatory (ONTSI)
A special thanks to…
… the patient community that participated in our events but also all our speakers, Novartis, Vivisol and the technology companies that supported us. Thanks to them, we were able to help patients and attendees discover more about how and why we are working on self-care skills and using digital health tools to improve their quality of life. Our goal is to guide and provide care to patients and, in this way, support health professionals in the management of chronic respiratory diseases. Thanks also to the IMWA International Marching Federation and its local partners, who guided the oxygen patients on their first walk through Seville's María Luisa Park and Barcelona's Gothic Quarter.
References:
National Telecommunications and IS Observatory (ONTSI)
Data extracted from a study published by the National Telecommunications and IS Observatory (ONTSI)
A special thanks to…
… the patient community that participated in our events but also all our speakers, Novartis, Vivisol and the technology companies that supported us. Thanks to them, we were able to help patients and attendees discover more about how and why we are working on self-care skills and using digital health tools to improve their quality of life. Our goal is to guide and provide care to patients and, in this way, support health professionals in the management of chronic respiratory diseases. Thanks also to the IMWA International Marching Federation and its local partners, who guided the oxygen patients on their first walk through Seville's María Luisa Park and Barcelona's Gothic Quarter.
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