Tag Archives: chronicity

Caregiving first hand

2 Nov
Assumpció González Mestre

Assumpció González Mestre, Head of Programa Pacient Expert Catalunya® (Expert Patient Programme Catalonia®) and Cuidador Expert Catalunya® (Expert Caregiver Catalonia®) answers questions in an interview with Cari Almazán related to the figure of “expert caregiver”.

The programmes of Pacient Expert Catalunya® and Cuidador Expert Catalunya®, respectively, have the same aim of equipping people with the tools and resources to help them in their daily lives.

This type of learning programme among equals manages to improve the quality of life of people which find themselves in the environment of a disease in the context of chronicity in Catalonia, be it as patients, as caregivers or both things together.

Cari: Who is the Programa Cuidador Expert Catalunya® aimed at?

Assumpció: Our field of action is clearly orientated at the caregivers of people having chronic diseases. By “expert caregiver” we understand them to be a person who takes care of another person with a chronic disease having complex attention needs and who is able to take on that responsibility, give care and acquire the skills that help them manage the physical, emotional and social impact of giving care thereby improving their life quality and that of the person they are taking care of.

Cari: What does turning a caregiver into an expert caregiver involve?

Assumpció: When a person finds themselves in the situation of having to take on the task of taking care of another person with a disease, the life of that person is totally conditioned by the situations, planned or not, foreseen or unforeseen, which the disease might involve. Helping a person in that critical moment often generates a change in the life of the person giving care and it becomes an emotional overload in their daily lives as a result of having to address the needs of the person they are taking care of. In this sense, having more capacity to take on responsibility and being able to take care of themselves and of the other person, on the one hand, and of acquiring skills that help them manage the physical, emotional and social impact which we know this situation involves, on the other, are some of the key aspects that we would consider as essential when identifying a possible expert caregiver.

Cari: Is being able to improve the quality of life of caregivers the aim of the programme?

Assumpció: It is one of the main aims although there are others. Giving support to caregivers in the management and care of the person they are taking care of; improving the life of caregivers; being able to involve and satisfy patients and caregivers; improving the efficacy of caregivers in their own care and in the care of the person they are taking care of; learning to identify the degree of overload on caregivers; and having an influence on aspects of the health of a caregiver related to giving care, are the six specific aims of the Programa Cuidador Expert Catalunya®.

Cari: Should all caregivers become expert caregivers?

Assumpció: The end goal is not that everyone becomes an expert but rather that they become aware of what it means to be a caregiver and to learn to identify when they find themselves overloaded and that, therefore, they need to ask for help from another person of the family or from a professional to be able to deal with the situation which they find themselves in. If caregivers become aware of this situation and ask for support at the appropriate time, they will be able to give care and take care of themselves better. Therefore, the expert caregiver is a volunteer with the capacity to take care of themselves without psychophysical disabilities and who can empathise, be interested in helping, be highly motivated and have strong communicative skills. These elements are assessed in an individual interview and after completing specific questionnaires.

Cari: Perhaps it is not always easy to put oneself in someone else’s shoes…

Assumpció: One of the fundamental aspects of this initiative and one which makes it different is that the expert caregiver experiences caregiving first hand which places them in a privileged position when talking to other people who are going through similar experiences.

Cari: What role does the health professional play in relation to the expert caregiver?

Assumpció: The health professional (doctor, nurse or social worker) takes on the role of observer, who can step in to redirect the session, but only when necessary. The Cuidador Expert Catalunya® programme helps both people to closely collaborate with each other having the same aim: to improve the quality of life of the patient, the caregiver and their environment.

Cari: What are the basics of the programme in terms of content and who developed them?

Assumpció: The specific educational materials and methodological guide are the result of the participation of a lot of expert health professionals from different disciplines. These contents have later been validated with the participation of caregivers. The idea is to get to people and so an appropriate language for everyone is needed.

Cari: How has the Cuidador Expert Catalunya® programme been implemented?

Assumpció: The process of implementation in a care team involves different stages which include the presentation of the programme to professionals, the selection of caregivers, the training of professionals and caregivers, the setting up of the group of caregivers and the start of sessions.

Cari: In summary therefore… what it is about, in the end, is to organise sessions?

Assumpció: Not exactly. It is about sharing knowledge and experiences among caregivers through 9 structured sessions where they approach and deal with a different subject each day looking for the tools that aid them to take care of themselves.

Cari: How is the Cuidador Expert Catalunya® programme assessed?

Assumpció: It is assessed quantitatively and qualitatively by measuring the knowledge gained, the degree of self-care, quality of life, self-reported problems, the degree of overload, the degree of satisfaction and the use of services. The results between the start and end of the intervention are compared and then again 6 and 12 months after it has ended.

Cari: What is the key element of the project?

Assumpció: Without a shadow of a doubt, learning among equals and the relational network. Throughout the experience acquired during the implementation of the programme, we have had the opportunity to confirm that the fact that the programme takes place in one neighbourhood or community is very positive. The relational network between the people that participate in the different groups makes it possible for the expert caregiver to become an agent in the community. The programme becomes a community activity of learning among equals.

 

Wishing you all a Joyous Festive Season from the AQuAS blog

29 Dec
nadal-2016-marta-millaret
Marta Millaret

From the blog AQUAS we hope you are having a good festive season and would like to thank you for reading and following us.

We publish weekly in Catalan, Spanish and English on subjects related to the projects that are being carried out at AQuAS and we also publish contributions from guest authors. The editorial line of the blog includes a focus on assessment from different points of view and areas of the health system.

Along these lines, we have dealt with healthcare and quality results presented by the different agents who make up the healthcare system, the whole range of observatories of the Catalan Health System (including that which deals with the effects of the economic crisis on the health of the population and innovation), qualitative research, integrated care, the assessment of mHealth, inequalities in health, patient involvement, doctor-patient communication, shared decisions, patient and citizen preferences, variations in medical practice, the prevention of low-value clinical practices, the impact of research, information and communications technology, data analysis in research, tools for the visualisation of data, innovation and health management, the gender perspective in science, statistical issues, clinical safety with electronic prescriptions, chronicity (not forgetting chronicity in children), the effects of air pollution in health and current topics.

blog-aquas

The most read articles in 2016 have been:

However, we have published many more texts, 51 posts to be precise, without counting this one, with the aim of sharing knowledge and generating a space for reflection, open and useful for everyone.

Thank you very much, a joyous festive season and see you in the new year!

Post written by Marta Millaret (@MartaMillaret), blog AQuAS editor.

nadal-2016-aquas-bicicleta

 

Is it possible to combine active and healthy ageing with innovation?

22 Dec
toni-dedeu
Toni Dedéu

The European Innovation Partnership on Active & Healthy Ageing (EIPonAHA) is an initiative of the European Commission to deal strategically with the social challenges associated to active and healthy ageing, to make good practices in innovation more visible and to facilitate exchanges between regions, all of which promote interregional cooperation and the value of excellence.

What is its aim? To improve the health and quality of life of Europeans, especially of people older than 65, and to give support to the sustainability and efficiency of health and social care systems in the long term as well as to enhance the competitiveness of EU industry through expansion in new markets.

The reflection on how health systems interact with an ageing population and care in chronicity has been been one of the main lines followed in the AQuAS blog during 2016; they are subjects that affect our society and, precisely because of this, are part of the Health agenda.

In this context, having links to European projects is fundamental, where networking, collaborative projects and assessment are absolutely essential.

eiponaha

This is the underlying idea of the Reference Sites awards which assess regional European health ecosystems based on four axes:

  1. Political, organisational, technological and financial willingness for an innovative approach to active and healthy ageing
  2. The capacity to share knowledge and resources for innovation
  3. Contributiing to European cooperation and transferability of own practices
  4. Providing evidence of positive impact

The status of “Reference Site” is awarded to systems, alliances and ecosystems in health which comprise different players at a regional European level (government authorities, hospitals and care organisations, the health industry, SMEs and start-ups, research and innovation organisations and civil society) which have invested in developing and implementing innovative-based approaches to active and healthy ageing. These practices must be carried out with a comprehensive approach and vision and proof of the impact of their results must be provided.

Four stars is the highest distinction awarded by EIP on AHA and this is the score obtained by Catalonia as a leading health ecosystem and a reference for institutions and European organisations in the area of innovation in active and healthy ageing. These factors encourage the internationalisation and visibility of the Catalan health system and at the same time increase the possibilities for creating initiatives and forming consortiums for collaborative work with other European regions.

Being self-critical of the  different health systems is as important as the knowledge and recognition of one’s own strengths and values. Sharing this is a way of acknowledging the involvement and work done by many professionals. We do not work in isolation; as a whole, this work has involved and involves AQuAS, the Fundació TicSalut, the HUBc (Health University of the Barcelona Campus), the ICS  (Catalan Health Institut),  the IDIAP Jordi Gol (Institute for Research in Primary Care), the Pere Mata Institute, the IRB Lleida (Biomedical Research Institution of Lleida), the VHIR (Vall d’Hebron Institut de Recerca), the Consorci Sanitari del Garraf  and the Institut Guttmann.

Last 7 December in Brussels, on behalf of the Department of Health, I received the award for the Catalonia Reference Site group given by the European Commission. It is relevant because this fact defines Catalonia as one of the most dynamic and leading European regions in number and quality of initiatives, investment and results in generating and implementing innovative solutions to resolving problems in care and health to elderly people, chronic patients and other groups of risk patients.

The fact that Catalonia has obtained this distinction from the European Commission has a very clear meaning: Catalonia is recognised as one of the leading European regions regarding active and healthy ageing and innovation.

On we go.

Post written by Toni Dedéu (@Toni_Dedeu), Managing Director of AQuAS.

PRINCEP – The program for children’s chronic disease care wins an international award

7 Jul

PRINCEP is the acronym of the program from Sant Joan de Déu Children’s Hospital in Barcelona, launched in 2012 under the name of Integrated Response Platform for children with chronic diseases and high dependence.

The project PRINCEP offers comprehensive care to hundreds of boys and girls and since its establishment has received several awards. The latest has been the award for the best social and health integration experience, which the International Foundation for Integrated Care (IFIC) awarded during the 16th International Conference of Integrated Care (ICIC16).

This initiative is a part of the innovation community of the Observatory of Innovation in Healthcare management in Catalonia (OIGS) and is one of the 37 experiences certified by the AQuAS.

Projecte PRINCEP - equip
Project PRINCEP team in Sant Joan de Déu Children’s Hospital in Barcelona – Joaquín Gascón (nurse), Olga Valsells (agent of spiritual care), Esther Lasheras (social worker), Sílvia Ricart (pediatrician), Andrea Aldemira (pediatrician), Astrid Batlle (pediatrician). She is not in the picture but she is in the team Verónica Vélez (nurse).

 

Chronic disease and pediatrics?

When we speak of chronic disease, we usually think of adults and the elderly, but chronic disease is also a reality in the pediatric world. The scientific advances of the last decades have increased the survival of formerly lethal diseases and that has led to the appearance of a new phenomenon: children’s chronic disease.

Increasingly health systems allocate more of their efforts to chronic disease care, mainly because of the great economic impact this generates. Although various studies estimate that only 15% of pediatric patients have special health care needs and that less than 1% suffers from chronic diseases of high complexity, the estimated health expenditures for this small percentage are between 30% and 40%.

When you think of chronic disease patients it is not only thinking about the managing of their health. All chronic diseases represent a major impact on the patient’s surroundings. The families must come to terms with significant changes in their lives: how to relate within and outside of the family, the problems of family and work conciliation, the difficulties for a social life or the economic problems, all of this causing major emotional changes and a questioning of values.

In managing everything for the pediatric complex chronic patient, it is essential to understand that the social and family situation will have an inevitable influence on their clinical situation and therefore that it must be taken into account in the daily work.

How can we respond to the specific needs of a complex, pediatric chronic patient?

In 2012 the Sant Joan de Déu Children’s Hospital in Barcelona created the PRINCEP program, a multidisciplinary unit oriented to offering comprehensive bio-psycho-social care to pediatric patients with complex chronic diseases. Made up of pediatricians, nurses, a social worker and an agent of spiritual care, the unit seeks to optimize health resources and improve the quality of life of the patients and their families, fostering their participation in the therapeutic process, their responsibility and self-care.

Since its Constitution giving service to 20 patients, it currently serves more than 100 boys and girls with chronic diseases of high complexity that require frequent use of hospital resources, tracking for multiple specialties, and a need for technological support for their daily care or a high social vulnerability.

What does this innovative experience offer?

Our patients have a medical team and nursing reference, which knows and manages the case on a global basis, carries out scheduled or urgent check-ups according to the patient’s needs and which also serves as a reference during hospital stays. In addition, they have telematics care via telephone, accessible 24 hours a day in case of clinical emergencies, or by email.

Thus, a quick and effective response to questions or clinical decompensations can be given, unnecessary visits are avoided and the family’s trust, autonomy and self-care are favored. Since the beginning of the unit, we have found a decrease in the number and duration of our patients´ hospital admissions, as well as the number of visits to the emergency room. Since the beginning of the unit, we have reported a decrease in the number and duration of the our patients admissions, as well as in the number of emergency room visits. In the last four years, the number of admissions per patient and per year has been reduced from more than 5 to 1, the average time of admission from 13 to 4 days, and the average number of visits to the emergency room per patient and per year from 8 to 1.

What does the integrated care in the context of this particular project consist of?

The project PRINCEP works on external coordination, trying to encourage collaborative models of health and social care, so that families can receive the support of the health or social services closest to them that then will be integrated into the patient’s treatment plan.

Social and spiritual support is also essential. Evaluating the social and family situation from the outset allows us to identify factors of vulnerability and to accompany and to prevent situations of social risk. More than 50% of the patients and families included in the program have needed a moderate or intensive intervention by our social worker. In addition, accompanying patients and their families in the different phases of the disease facilitates adherence to the treatment as well as the adaptation to the changes, and helps to strengthen the family structure and social support network.

The social and emotional situation influences the health conditions and the empowerment and confidence of the families improves the clinical management of the pediatric, complex chronic patients who benefit from a comprehensive and global care. The integrated approach to children’s chronic disease favors the optimization of resources and improves the quality of life of patients and families.

Post written by Andrea Aldemira Liz, pediatrician of the Complex Chronic Disease Unit of the Sant Joan de Déu Hospital (@HSJDbarcelona_es).

Real Time Delphi relating to chronicity

2 Jun
Monguet JM 2015
Josep Maria Monguet

The Real Time Delphi method, which implements the functionality of the Internet to make the Delphi Method more flexible, efficient and transparent, has been used by the Agency for Health Quality and Assessment of Catalonia (AQuAS as per the Catalan synonym) to identify the indicators for evaluating chronicity care and for the management of the areas of improvement in this field.

¿What is the Delphi method? It is a structured communication technique which is based on a panel of experts who answers questionnaires in two or more rounds. After each round, a facilitator provides a summary of what the experts have said in the previous round. Successive rounds are intended to reach a consensus on the subject. The Delphi method is applied to make predictions about the future and, in general, for any issue when a scientific approach is not possible. When the Delphi method is online (Real Time Delphi) the responses of the participants are calculated automatically and many variants of the method can be entered in a controlled way.

Health Consensus

The Health Consensus application that facilitates the participation of professionals through a methodology of online consensus developed by the company Onsanity from research done at the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC) in Barcelona was used to identify the most appropriate indicators.

The work was carried out in the years 2013-2014, the first prototype of the system was applied twice, first in Catalonia, and a second version in the context of all the Spanish health system. The Health Consensus application for the selection of indicators allowed for the collecting of contributions from more than 800 health professionals, including clinical profiles of management and planning. An initial list of 215 indicators was progressively reduced through successive rounds of consensus until it was reduced to 18.

Not only did this experience allow the the identification of indicators, but it also showed various aspects that are interesting for research  and innovation:

  1. It is possible to pool the tacit knowledge of a fairly large group of professionals, putting together experiences and different points of view.
  2. The professionals underscore their perception that the contributions that are made, are highly valuable in the construction of the model subjected to consensus.
  3. The online system is accepted by the professionals who expressed a high satisfaction level during the participation process.

The experience was published: Monguet JM, Trejo A, Martí T, Espallargues M, Serra-Sutton V, Escarrabill J. Assessment of chronic health care through and Internet consensus tool. IGI Global; 2015.

Post written by Josep Mª Monguet (@JM_Monguet), UPC Professor.

Never before have we been so healthy and at the same time, never before have we been so sick

21 Apr
LluísBohígas
Lluís Bohígas

When I was born in 1950, life expectancy at birth was 65 years. I have now reached the 65-year mark and as such, according to the data, I should be starting to lose expectations. Fortunately, in recent years, medicine, health and lifestyles have improved and my reviewed life expectancy has increased, according to data from Idescat, by 20 years. This means that I have gained one year of life for every 3 years I have lived. That’s not bad! I am delighted with the figures, but there is one thing that worries me. That thing is called healthy life expectancy. This is calculated by combining mortality data which gives us life expectancy, together with morbidity data which can tell us how many years we are expected to be unhealthy. My healthy life expectancy is currently 12 years, in other words, I can spend 12 of the 20 years I have remaining healthy, and 8 unhealthy. Statistically speaking, that is.

And what diseases face me on the road ahead? Well the most serious life-threatening diseases are cardiovascular disease and cancer. Suffice to say that many of the gains we have achieved in terms of extending life expectancy have come from reducing cardiovascular mortality. Cancer is also in decline, thanks to improvements and research in health. Certain types of cancer are less common due to the decrease in the number of people who smoke. For example, lung cancer is declining in men but has increased in women. For other forms of cancer, there is now very effective treatment and medication that can relegate the disease to chronic status. However, despite the fact that these diseases are serious, they do not have us visiting the doctor every day. We visit the doctor complaining from high blood pressure, cholesterol, diabetes, heart failure, etc. Some of these diseases are linked to the largest public health problem today: obesity. Tobacco or alcohol are no longer the major public health problems, but instead it is obesity. The number of cases of are growing day by day and it is considered to be the root cause of certain diseases such as diabetes.

Obesity is caused by two factors: overeating and taking less exercise than we should. Most modern developments result in us doing less exercise: elevators, escalators, teleconferencing, etc., and a lot of the media input encourage us to eat more or to consume sugary drinks. The combination of these factors mean that today around 15% of the Catalan population is obese.

The most common disease in people over 65 years old today is called polypharmacy, in other words, the use of more than three types of medications on a daily basis. In many cases this can be more than 10 different drugs and there are some people who have a daily consumption of 20 drugs. Each drug is prescribed to address a particular health problem, and health problems have multiplied. Nowadays, we don’t have only one disease, we have several, and each disease has its own therapeutic arsenal. Doctors must monitor patients, not only to control the disease, but also to ensure they prescribe drugs that do not have adverse effects on the patient’s other conditions. When visiting our GP, they have to take into account a number of parameters, and a visit to the hospital can mean appointments with a number of different medical services. One of the most serious health issues today is derived from interactions between different drugs or therapeutic activities that can act as obstacles to each other.

Medicine has come a long way since I was born. We have discovered so much about diseases and we now have much more effective medicines and surgery to cure many conditions. Nevertheless, medicine is poorly prepared for the new patient: elderly, with several diseases, some mental (Alzheimer’s, dementia, depression, etc.), without family, and prescribed a lot of different medication. Because the system cannot cope with the complexity, they end up sending the patient to an elderly care nursing home.

For several years, voices have been raised in healthcare circles demanding the reorganization of services to meet the demands of these new patients. These voices have difficulty making themselves heard and it is very difficult to change the way health services operate. We have reduced mortality thanks to specialization and superspecilisation with diseases being defined with greater precision, but the patient has been reduced to a sack of diseases. The new medical perspective asks to view the patient as a whole and not only each one of the diseases they suffer from. There is still much work to do.

The current paradox is that we have never been so healthy and at the same time, we have never been so sick. Never before have we been able to live for so long in good health and never before have we lived so long with so many diseases to trouble us, to restrict us and make us dependent on health services. Faced with this situation, health services must adapt and patients must take a more active role in caring for their diseases.

Post written by Bohígas (@bohigasl), economist.

Mobile Is Everything

3 Mar

Barcelona Mobile FiraBarcelona is Mobile. The great mobile world exhibition has not gone unnoticed to the city. With a record 100,000 visitors, the Mobile World Congress took place last week in Barcelona, under the theme “Mobile is everything”. Considering the innovations presented in it, it appears that healthcare is also becoming mobile (mhealth).

The massive mobile technology world fair gathered mobile operators, technology manufacturers, providers, distributors, and content providers who presented the industry’s latest innovations. According to Genís Roca (@genisroca), the contents  of this year’s Mobile World Congress has turned around these 6 topics:

1.    Graphene
2.    Virtual reality
3.    eSim
4.    Connected Car
5.    5G
6.    Internet of Things – IoT

Three of these large trends have very clear applications in the field of healthcare.

The first topic is graphene. The Catalan Institute of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology (ICN2), in collaboration with research centres from Barcelona and the Autonomous University of Barcelona, has presented a group of graphene electronic sensors that can be used to detect the electrical activity of the brain. The early detection of an epileptic crisis could be possible in patients suffering from epilepsy and implanted with these sensors. The implanted device on the cortex would alert the patient by, for instance, sending an alarm signal to an external mobile device.

Virtual reality has been the main character in the congress, or at least, the one that caused more anticipation. This was best seen in the long queues to visit Samsung’s roller coaster or SK Telecom’s submarine.

Gear VR Theater with 4DVirtual reality applications are starting to appear in the field of mental healthcare. Thus, startups such as MindWave (with their project HealthVR) or Psious offer treatments to tackle phobias, fears or generalised anxiety by exposing patients to virtual reality images, in some cases as part of a cognitive behavioural therapy.

Finally, the Internet of Things is gaining ground: Internet connected objects are creating new business models and involve more and more sectors. For instance, the monitorisation of vital signs (weight, glucose, blood pressure, physical training, etc.) is increasingly more common with connected wearables (smartwatches, bracelets, etc.) that allow to collect real time data. Connected devices also allow the control and follow-up of chronic diseases, such as diabetes with Insulclok.

The mobile industry will undoubtedly continue to evolve, and its applications in the field of healthcare will grow even more. I was lucky to attend the course Mobile Thinking Days-Digital Health (organised by Mobile World Capital Barcelona, IESE Business School and RocaSalvatella), and one of the key messages that appealed to me is that any product subjected to digital pressure will end up transformed into a service (Genís Roca dixit). Therefore, a big challenge of mhealth will be to offer disruptive, quality services that meet the patients’ needs.

Elena TorrenteEntry written by Elena Torrente (@etorrente), digital health coordinator in DKV Services.

Programming the 2016 agenda… some (good) recommendations

11 Feb

2016 is loaded with interesting and innovative events regarding management, patient experience, health 2.0, overdiagnosing, integrated care and research impact. These are our recommendations:

Innovation in management: which are the keys to success
Barcelona, February 17th, 2016

What can be done so professionals exchange their experiences and learn from one another? What can be done to spread the knowledge on innovation generated by the health system? This session of the Catalan Society of Health Care Management (SCGS) will be held in the Catalan Observatory of Innovation in Health Care Management (OIGS), and it will discuss innovation in management topics.

Practising Community on Patients’ Experiences

Esplugues de Llobregat (Barcelona), February 18th, 2016

What is person-centred care in practice? Hospital Sant Joan de Déu will hold a session with workgroups that will deal some topics of interest, such as what person-centred care involves, the presentation of practical cases of participative design techinques for patients’ experiences, and one session on this technology as a lever to help improve patients’ experiences.

Health 2.0 Europe 2016
Barcelona, May 11th and 12th, 2016

Health 2.0 Europe 2016

European and international innovation focused on the patient-practitioner relationship, consumers’ health, data analysis, and more. More than 120 participants and 600 attendants from all over the world will gather to experience live innovative solutions for the European health care systems. Those with an innovative experience included in the OIGS register can benefit from a 15% discount in the registration fee.

ICIC16 – 16th International Conference on Integrated Care
Barcelona, May 23th – 25th, 2016

ICIC16

A gathering of researchers, clinicians and managers from all over the world. This international conference offers a chance to share experiences and the most recent evidence on the integration of public healthcare, health and social services. Among other issues, it will deal with the challenges of the population’s ageing, the integration at hospital care level of mental care services and rehabilitation services, and the new tools mhealth and digital health. Clinical leadership and models of joint work between patients, caregivers and the community will also be discussed.

EHMA Annual Conference 2016: New Models of Care. Reinventing healthcare: why, what, how

Porto (Portugal), 14-16 June 2016

The EHMA Annual Conference: “New Models of Care. Reinventing healthcare: why, what, how”  will bring together policy makers, health managers, health professionals and educators to discuss new models, approaches and solutions for facing challenges that healthcare Systems will experience  in the next decade and beyond.

Preventing Overdiagnosis 2016
Barcelona, September 20th – 22th, 2016

Preventing Overdiagnosis

Barcelona will follow Washington, as AQuAS, together with Oxford University, will organise the next issue of this international conference, a space to share knowledge to help debate and reflect on overdiagnosing and its nature, its potential risks, its impact on people’s health and the cost of opportunity it may offer to healthcare systems. You can register at this link.

The International School on Research Impact Assessment
Melbourne (Australia), September 19th – 23th, 2016

ISRIA2016

Annual meeting point to improve abilities in the assessment of research impact. The the International School on Research Impact Assessment (ISRIA), co-founded by AQuAS in 2013, will reach its 5th edition being faithful to its original goals of fostering the science of research impact in all scientific fields and of supporting the sustainability of research system in all the world. Up to date, ISRIA has reached the figure of 300 participants from 17 countries in the three previous editions altogether.