This appeared last week:
Digital Health in Australia: What works, and future directions
29 Aug 2017
CREATORS
This report provides an overview of the outcomes of a stakeholder workshop exploring the potential of Digital Health Technologies.
Description
Digital health technologies have attracted much attention in the popular media and medical, health services and public health literature. While digital health technologies hold potential for improving health and medical care, there are many issues to be resolved in facilitating their provision and efficacy, and managing the sensitive health information generated from their use. Eliciting the views and experiences of the diverse constituents in the digital health ecosystem is important. As a step towards this objective, a digital health stakeholder workshop was held in Canberra, Australia, in June 2017.
As part of a living lab approach using social design methods, the workshop participants engaged in hands-on activities addressing two key questions:
1) What is currently working and not working in digital health? and;
2) Where should digital health go in the future?
The workshop outcomes demonstrated the complex relations between individual consumers and healthcare providers, social groups, organisations and the digital health technologies that are currently used in Australia.
More here:
Here is the direct link to the report.
Here is the Executive Summary:
Executive Summary
Digital health technologies have attracted much attention in the popular media and medical, health services and public health literature. While digital health technologies hold potential for improving health and medical care, there are many issues to be resolved in facilitating their provision and efficacy, and managing the sensitive health information generated from their use.
Eliciting the views and experiences of the diverse constituents in the digital health ecosystem is important. As a step towards this objective, a digital health stakeholder workshop was held in Canberra, Australia, in June 2017. As part of a living lab approach using social design methods, the workshop participants engaged in hands-on activities addressing two key questions
· What is currently working and not working in digital health? and;
· Where should digital health go in the future?
The workshop outcomes demonstrated the complex relations between individual consumers and healthcare providers, social groups, organisations and the digital health technologies that are currently used in Australia. The activities and ensuing discussions within the group generated the following key insights:
· Digital health technologies offer valuable ways for health consumers, healthcare providers,community groups and health industries to create and share information about health, medicine and healthcare. These technologies can effectively provide information, support and social networks for health consumers and improve healthcare access and delivery.
· Ethical and social issues need to be considered, including whether some individuals or social groups might be stigmatised by a focus on self- management of health.
· Some consumer groups and providers are currently excluded from full participation in the digital health ecosystem, due to lack of necessary infrastructure, social disadvantage or economic factors, their health status, lack of skills or interest, or because their needs are not adequately recognised.
· Health data are potentially valuable to all stakeholders, albeit in different ways.
· Establishing a system for the effective collection, protection and sharing of health data is highly complex. While Australia is leading the way in some respects in terms of developing the legislation, digital infrastructure and systems required, there is much that still to be accomplished.
· Mechanisms for facilitating further consultation between the various stakeholders involved in digital health, including consumers and carers, need to be established, so that their needs and interests can be incorporated into future policy development and planning.
· The rights and responsibilities of the different stakeholders involved in connected digital health need to be better identified and highlighted.
· It is important to find an effective and ethical way to connect health data with all involved stakeholders. Siloed data needs to be better shared across sectors and parties.
· At the same time, personal data privacy and security need protection. Health consumers need to be able to invest their trust in government and other stakeholders to protect their personal data.
The workshop generated a large number of ideas and insights which are quite wide in their scope and applicability.
A lot of the insights seemed to me to really broaden the scope of the areas addressed in the ADHA strategy.
No solutions are offered in this report but a large number of possibilities are identified.
The executive summary captures the key ideas quite reasonably if not slightly optimistically. The recognition of the complexity of it all is sensible.
Well worth a browse.
David.
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