In a digital health revolution, access to information and opportunities to share experiences with fellow patients is just a click away with the launch of Moray's health e-space.
The new website - www.health-e-space.com - seeks to encourage self care in health care as residents take more responsibility for their well-being.
Self-management will be key if health care is to remain comprehensive, believes Professor Grant Cumming, who has led the drive to utilise growing awareness and use of cyberspace as a virtual addition to the GP's waiting room.
It is all about empowering people to make e-health real health, said the consultant in obstetrics and gynaecology at Dr Gray's Hospital in Elgin.
He points to the strain the health service is under as demand grows, particularly with a booming ageing population.
"As health care becomes increasingly expensive, current ways of working will become unsustainable," Prof Cumming said.
"It is predicted if we carry on as we are, a new 50-bed care home will be required every two weeks and a new 300-bed district general hospital will be needed every three years, both for the next 20 years.
"By 2020 virtually all school leavers will need to be involved in the care sector."
Moray is surging ahead of the rest of Scotland in the development of e-health, which is being pioneered through a multi-agency approach involving the NHS, Moray Health and Social Care Partnership, Moray College, universities and others.
The Internet has already changed the way people do their shopping, banking and communication, but now it is time to turn it on its head with health care the next application, Prof Cumming considers.
In their everyday life, people are constantly making decisions which have an impact on their health, through what they eat and drink, the exercise they take and the action they take to deal with an existing condition or new concern.
Projects already running successfully in Moray include the Dufftown blood pressure project, support for breast feeding mothers and a weather alert for patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
The website is expected to prove to be a useful tool to "nudge" people in a positive direction by providing a platform from which they can upload health information specific to their own needs.
It will provide social networking opportunities for people who want to talk about health issues, said Prof Cumming, and quality assured professional information, as well as links to local information such as facilities which are accessible.
There is growing awareness of the need to focus on prevention, with people increasingly taking ownership of health care, said the professor.
"For a good quality of life we need disease prevention and disease management as well as treatment, and while a health professional is an expert in identifying disease, a patient is an expert in experiencing it," he added.
They may, however, need additional advice, information and reassurance to be totally confident in taking responsibility for their own health.
Still in its infancy, the health-e-space site will continue to grow and be developed as people interact with it and users build up their own patient-centred medical toolkit. This may help them to be better informed about their condition before they undergo further treatment, help create a support network and even introduce them on screen to the health professionals who will be caring for them, as well as offering virtual tours of hospital wards.
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Autor(en)/Author(s): Fiona McPherson
Quelle/Source: The Northern Scot, 13.11.2009
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