Introduction
While the development of new medical equipment, pharmaceuticals and high-end products are the subject of enormous investment and attention, other concerns are coming to the forefront. Despite rising expenditure on health and the availability of increasingly sophisticated drugs, millions of people remain plagued by serious disorders. These range from chronic contagious diseases that could be counteracted or treated at low cost, to illnesses caused by conditions such as lack of clean water or sanitation, or self-inflicted consumption patterns.
It is estimated that 820,000 extra doctors and nurses would be needed in sub-Saharan Africa alone to support basic health services. Moreover, millions of lives could be saved – and living conditions dramatically improved – if people were informed of and able to implement minor lifestyle changes. This applies to developing and developed countries alike. Obesity, diabetes and cardiovascular diseases are on the rise in most parts of the world, and generate a host of everyday problems. Healthcare systems are weak in examining and addressing systemic aspects influencing the overall health situation of a society as well as of the individual.
An effective response to strengthen the overall efficiency and relevance of our health systems requires that people meet with better incentives to gain control and get access to knowledge and basic tools to identify commonplace health issues and how to solve them. With the advancing information society, new means for making progress in this regard are on the rise. Applying Internet-based services and mobile telephony, the PCS innovates through information and communications technology (ICT) tools to establish the means for user empowerment in the area of health, through inspiration and the constructive interface between technology and human behaviour.
Our time is marked by many and sometimes contradictory images. An unprecedented and growing number of people are gaining influence and control over their own health. Adults today can increasingly look forward to a long active period beyond retirement. Indeed, they will turn out to be the healthiest, wealthiest and best educated elderly generation in history. However, many suffer from isolation, loneliness and lack of services, which prevents them from harnessing the opportunities of a healthy later life. For many young people, insurance schemes, particularly in the United States, display catastrophic deficiencies. Medical research and modern hospital treatment have greatly contributed to prolonged longevity but continuously require higher spending and are driving the costs of healthcare ever higher. Although technology and expensive drugs are in search of customers, many looming health problems meet with few responses before spiralling out of control.
ICT: Opportunity and challenge
The advancing information and communications technology (ICT) offers new scope for creating a constructive interface between individuals/citizens/patients and information suppliers on how best to prevent or counter serious health disorders. So far, however, ICT tools have largely been applied for entertainment and pleasure, catering far less for cultural and societal perspectives and issues. Scant attention has been paid to the potential for applying ICT for productive exchange of experience and learning, within as well as across societies, on how to counter the most pressing and destructive issues of our time.
Applying Internet-based services and mobile telephony, the PCS is developing the means for user empowerment in the area of health, through inspiration and the constructive interface between technology and human behaviour. Special emphasis is laid on designing incentive structures and tools for training and monitoring that can be applied effectively in the context of specific cultures and in response to specific health disorders. The key is for individuals to gain the insight and ability to pursue small but important adjustments in everyday life. Part of the challenge is to motivate and enable people to turn from ignorance to awareness, from reaction to pro-action, from uncertainty to confidence, within their particular societal context.
States of work and pilots leading towards deployment
The key concept and fundamental methodology behind the certification approach draw on research in several areas, including behavioural, social and management studies, as well as the development of the appropriate communication and information tools.
The PCS focuses on promoting the empowerment of individuals to induce self-reinforced e-learning processes by deploying health certification through specially designed e-packages. A network of collaborating actors contributes to the PCS in various ways. This includes not-for-profit associations, think-tanks and universities engaged in research and training. In this area, an International Advisory Board has been set up to offer stewardship and guidance. Various private companies and care institutions are also engaged in preparing pilot projects, to further the implementation of the PCS.
Three pilot projects are in preparation, entailing deployment in response to specific disorders under particular conditions. These, in turn, will generate comparative evaluations and studies examining options for improving specific aspects of behavioural adjustment, to enable continuous learning on how the scheme can be upgraded by adding new services. The three pilots are adapted for separate geographical areas, specific health disorders and target groups.