"We're still using sticks to make fire", say healthcare innovators

Digital Health Age, reporting from Stockholm

Lucien Engelen, director of the REshape Innovation Centre in the Netherlands, is just one expert at a meeting of minds in Sweden who is saying healthcare systems still have a long way to go to modernise provision.

Speaking at the Digital Health Days in Stockholm this week, the innovation champion outlined various accomplishments, but warned that HCPs still can't access some of the most game-changing technology. 

"Why is healthcare still using sticks to make fire? If you have to go to the doctors, you have to take a day off", Engelen said.

"Why is there tech out there that's CE marked and FDA approved, and even being reimbursed, and we're still not using it?

"It's already there but it's not embedded into mainstream healthcare".

Now in its fourth year, Digital Health Days is established as one of the key events for stakeholders in the field. 

While talks and discussions have involved startups, investors and tech giants, there is an overarching theme around the patient and consumer. 

Personal touches

Author, speaker and patient Robin Farmanfarmaian described her own journey with Crohn's Disease, explaining how she saw her health improve when she 'fired' her healthcare team, and sought new opinions. 

An advocate for the concept of "patient as CEO", Farmanfarmaian said that emerging technologies give patients new opportunities to take control of their health. 

Playing the game

Pokemon Go, the gaming app that has taken the world by storm, was a late inclusion on the agenda. Barry Brown, professor of human computer interaction at Stockholm University took part in a 'fireside chat' with attendees to discuss the implications of the augmented reality game for health.

For a game or app to be successful in changing behaviours, it must be sincerely designed, Brown said. His argument is that badly designed games, with poorly imagined incentives are less likely to be adopted by players, who may otherwise exhibit a cynicism around games for health.

And asked if gamification for health is in danger of excluding the elderly, Brown said: "There is this idea that older people don't use technology. But that's not the case. The biggest group of gamers now are retired - and that's because they have more time. Games like Candy Crush make most of their money from that demographic."

Mind over matter

The event is not limited to physical health. Much has been made this week of the potential of connected technology in mental health treatment.

This is a competitive market, with hundreds of meditation and mindfulness apps vying for space on the Google Play and iTunes app stores. And the scope is getting broader, according to psychologist Ella Radgovin, who works as an online cognitive behavioural therapist. "There's a lot of research going on right now, not just in depression and anxiety, but also sleep disorders and many other things", she said.

"Most of the research has been on the middle aged demographic. But in recent years there have more studies in adolescents. In fact I've been involved in a study that showed online therapy for adolescents to be more effective than live therapy."

The mental health agenda outlined new models for care, with a strong emphasis on the important role of clinical evidence.

The Digital Health Days conference is being live streamed at www.digitalhealthdays.se.