Four ongoing projects of different kinds that EHFF is involved in are reported here.
- Proposed re-start of PiSCE tender on self-management in minor conditions.
EHFF is one of four remaining organisations on the steering committee of the project which was halted in September last year when the tender leaders, CBO had to go into administration. Recent negotiations with representatives of DG Sante have been very positive and it is planned that the tender will resume, possibly in April with the Danish Committee for Health Education leading a consortium that includes EHFF, CPME (the European Doctors association) and FAD (Fundacion Avedis Donabedian). It is proposed that the tender will be complete its work within approximately nine months of the re-start, the final conference scheduled for around the end of 2016.
- Official kick-off meeting of PROSTEP tender, Brussels Jan.27th.
Commission officials (again, from DG Sante) met with representatives of the consortium who will deliver this two year tender on promoting self-management in chronic diseases. The consortium is led by EPF, the European Patients Forum, supported by EHFF, DCHE, FAD and iMTA (the Institute for Medical Technology Assessment associated to Erasmus University). Although the work is confidential until after the completion of the project, the tender specification is public and is available in our previous News item published here Jan.9. EHFF will, among other tasks, lead the Work Package that includes setting up a platform of experts and setting an agenda for their work in line with the tender specification.
- Commencement of EMPATTICS Horizon 2020 project, Feb. 1st
As reported in the news item dated December 13th, EHFF leads a work package for about 9 months at the start of this project on empowering patients via the use of ICT (with a focus on PCP, pre-commercial procurement, involving 5 regions, Galicia, Aragon, Isle de France (Paris), Mid-Denmark and Slovenj Gradec, Slovenia). The role of our work package is to help define more precisely the ‘common challenge’ for the would-be commercial providers by reviewing the needs and gaps in provision for self-management of patients in the five regions with three major disease entities, Diabetes, COPD and CCF. The group met face to face for the first time in Madrid on Dec. 21st and will meet again in Copenhagen on Mar.29/30. Our work package is scheduled to produce a final report around M9, which would be October of this year.
- Implementation of ‘Synergies’ project on patient empowerment for EIP
European Innovation Partnership on Active and Healthy Ageing
Further to the News item report on December 14 (Empathie Network update), the lead group met on-line on Mar.11th to plan the roll-out of this project during 2016. We plan to convene a face to face meeting of interested parties on the occasion of the three day meeting on integrated care in Barcelona in May, starting with the ‘Integrate’ closing conference on May 23, where we will probably meet. Cecilia Vera of Madrid Polytechnic University will act as coordinator.
- EHFF review of organisational development
As a final phase of the implementation of the EHFF plan for 2-15, Sean Conlan has convened so far two web conversations, on Jan.22 and Feb 22 of this year, with international experts on different facets of network development. We are processing the data from these conversations and they will be subsequently published on the website. The first, on systems theory and VSM (the Stafford Beer Viable Systems model), was between Sean and David Somekh for EHFF with Prof Gerald Midgely of Hull University, whose field is systems theory, and Jon Walker, a pioneer in the study of co-operative movements and of the application of VSM in social systems (currently working in South America). The second was with Dave Cormier, the originator of the MOOC concept, now teaching in Prince Edward Island, just north of Nova Scotia in Canada and an internationally famous educationalist and expert on so-called rhizomatic learning and John Redmond from Dublin, who is Company Secretary for the ESB (Irish Electricity Board) a colleague of Sean’s and like him interested in sustainability and other environmental issues (see www.feasta.org ). Watch this space! We think this is an exciting exercise which will continue through 2016 and will help inform EHFF’s mission as it evolves.