There is currently a growing general interest in digital health technologies, which provide various applications, such as diagnosis, monitoring of clinical conditions, support for medical decisions and intervention in disease management up to the electronic health record.

A lot of scientific articles identify a list of "collateral" benefits that favor the increasingly widespread and distributed application of Digital Technologies for Health, including the centrality of the care relationship as a new paradigm in the interaction between the actors of the system, the culture of data and its value as a clear, shared and transparent concept between all actors and at all levels of management, and digital skills, as a continuous path of training and development of new knowledge and skills of all the protagonists of change.

The spread of digital technologies for health opens up important scenarios that require the attention of the main players and the definition of an ecosystem focused on supporting the development of digital skills, in particular for citizens, patients and caregivers.

Last May 21st an online event took place as part of the All Digital Weeks 2024 (13-31 May 2024), of which Stati Generale dell'Innovazione is Italian Coordinator. 

The objective of the event was to promote a discussion between the main stakeholders on the digital skills of citizens, patients and caregivers for health ("which model for which skills?") and contribute to the general reflection on the need to outline an ecosystem structured to meet their digital needs - “Who are the actors who identify needs and propose solutions?

AllDigital Weeks 2024 is a major European digital skills awareness campaign for inclusion, empowerment and employment, organized by the AllDigital network since 2010, helping over 1.5 million people improve their digital skills.

Description of event

Two thematic work sessions moderated by a caregiver expert in digital technologies for healthcare and by a doctor past director of the Rare Disease Center of the Istituto Superiore di Sanità who highlighted the need to address digital healthcare starting from citizens' needs , patients and caregivers to the ecosystem of digital skills in the healthcare sector.

We shared within the group:

- the need to deepen the application of the DigComp framework in the healthcare sector for citizens/patients/caregivers

- the need to affirm the co-planning of paths and processes to encourage system actions capable of also impacting educational policies linked to the digital transition (e.g. patients/caregivers experts in digital health technologies?)

- the importance of contributing to the creation of a healthcare ecosystem that includes digital skills development programs not only for professionals but also for citizens, patients and caregivers.

Our slogan is  “digital skills for life for all”.  

Link 

https://www.statigeneralinnovazione.it/all-digital-weeks-2024/

https://youtu.be/cLIird6enwk?si=O9_LnuEzH4Y1ORUC

https://www.statigeneralinnovazione.it/all-digital-weeks-2024-13-31-maggio-2024/