Personal TelehealthTelehealth in Europe

Europe's population will age dramatically in the coming years. Individuals expect to lead healthy, independent lives as they grow older, but many will require help to deal with chronic conditions, such as heart disease, stroke, or diabetes. With the aid of telehealth technologies, this growing healthcare challenge is being addressed by societies and economies throughout the E.U.

The European Commission recently adopted its European Action Plan—Ageing Well in the Information Society—which highlights the key role of information and communication technologies. Between now and 2013, the E.U. and its member states will invest more than €1 billion in research and innovation in technologies that will give older people a better quality of life and reduce costs for both health and social care.

Exploring solutions for chronic care: a U.K. perspective

Over the past few years, government and healthcare providers have been striving to introduce systematic and coordinated approaches to modernising healthcare delivery in the U.K. Such programs stress disease prevention or risk reduction as much as the care of patients once the disease has developed.

In planning improvements to healthcare delivery, decision makers have several issues to tackle, including engaging patients in their own health management, enabling doctors to make appropriate decisions, coordinating management of coexisting conditions, and collecting relevant data to identify at-risk patients and implement early interventions.

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