Jim Phillips, Associated Director for EHFF and Director for CEmPaC attended the Connected Health seminar: How to engage and empower patients?  At the Science Park Tehnopol, Tallinn, Estonia in March.

The purpose of the event was to showcase good practices, drawing to some extent from local sources in  Estonia, but also with European speakers to help illustrate examples of best practice across Europe recognising that  Patients, professionals and healthcare service developers / providers are important developing digital health in the future.

Presentations focused on the role of digital in health care and the importance of the empowered patient. Estonia is Europe’s most digitally connected society with citizens having full access to electronic patient records as well as all government service being online. However low health literacy, like many European countries represents a significant barrier to greater uptake of digital health care.

Many of the presentations looked at how not only care can be provided through digital mediums but also how they can be used to deliver personalised care tailored to the persons level of health literacy. Jim’s presentation focused on the role of the empowered patient and the interventions needed to support patients to be more in control of their own care- regardless of which medium it is provided in.