ArctiChildrenInNet (2012-2014) - Empowering School e-Health Model in the Barents Region
The health and well-being of children and youth on the region is challenged in many ways. Some of these are common for the region, and some are also in connection to the regions´s special features such as sparse population and limited availability of services. Youths' traditional sources of health information are no longer satisfying their needs, and they are increasingly using the internet for health-related information. Children and youth are also early adopters of new technologies. These are reasons why e-health services are seen as a positive possibility of improving the health services of children and youth on the Kolarctic region. The project will involve different groups in the mapping of the needs and planning of the services. Pilot schools (schoolchildren, parents, school-, social- and health care experts) are involved for mapping their attitudes, needs and wishes to develop health promotion through ICT. Also university students will be integrated in this process acquiring new knowledge.
The project website: http://some.lappia.fi/blogs/acthree/
The project aims at sharing available means, the French and Belgian institutions signed partnership conventions today in order to the benefit the border population. The patients in the border area can therefore be treated on the other side of the border, benefitting from services and cutting-edge technology, all paid for by the social security systems in their own country.
Project website: www.ofbs.eu
Model-region POMERANIA for a cross-border neonatal screening
This project saves lives - the life of many children living in the Pomerania region along the German-Polish border. This isn’t too difficult: medical scientist from the regional screening centers Ernst-Moritz-Arndt University of Greifswald“ and Pomeranian Medical University Szczecin“ established a joint cross-border network for neonatal screening. Newborn children in this area now are tested for a wide range of metabolic diseases and hormonal disorders. Children suffering from diseases such as mucoviscidosis and PUK (Phenylketonurie) do have the chance of a regular development – but only in case these diseases are discovered at a very early age and are treated from the start by applying early therapy and/or a diet. And that’s exactly what the project does: project-partners are improving the screening-quality by a joint process of planning, financing, organizing and executing neonatal screening. Furthermore, the partnership is used to expand the spectrum of covered diseases and to improve the support service for affected children. Thus, the project establishes a trendsetting and forward-looking pan-European model-region in this thematic area.
Project website: http://www.pum.edu.pl/administracja/biuro-ds.-spraw-europejskich
Infertility is a serious medical, social and economic problem that affects approximately 15% of the population in child-bearing years. Many societal and lifestyle-related factors influence the existing situation, but little knowledge exists on the causes of infertility. For this reason, most treatment is symptomatic (e.g. artificial insemination), rather than preventive. From the view of patients and society, this is unfortunate. Reprosund has opened a facility for fertility counseling in Copenhagen, which is available to Danish and Swedish couples experiencing fertility problems. Without a referral, anyone can come in to have their fertility assessed and obtain personal advice and counseling. This is a major development, as this type of counseling has not previously been possible in the region.
Baltic Sea Health Region - Business acceleration support and training bridging innovative SMEs and health care organisations to strengthen BSR health economy
EU health care sector spending ranges from 5-11% of regional GDP facing further increase due to demographic development and cost increase in drug & technology development. At the same time a paradigm shift occurs: health care is not only seen as a cost factor but also as a driver of economy and an important factor of employment. However health care is split into sectors which function separately: health care providers, enterprises, research institutions, regulatory and financing institutions. BSHR HealthPort aims at bridging the existing cross-sectoral gaps by involving the regional key actors in the value chain of health care innovations. Specifically BSHR HealthPortadresses following key bottlenecks: 1) Insufficient commercial exploitation of ideas proposed by health care researchers and practitioners; 2) Procurement practices limiting access of innovative SMEs to the health care market; 3) Insufficient innovation competencies of and cultural differences between the target groups.
Key objectives:1) Set up cross-sectoral innovation market (“HealthPort”) involving all health care related sectors.2) Promote SME business development and facilitate their access to the health care market by identifying cross-sectoral pilot cases and increasing SME access to financing.3) Enhance innovation competencies of the involved actors with tailor-made cross-sectoralprogrammes. 4) Develop regional innovation agendas and align them towards a BSR wide “health economy strategy” to improve healthcare by reducing costs and enhancing regional economic development.
Project website: www.scanbalt.org/projectsFood and health security in the Norwegian,Finnish and Russian border region: linking local industries, communities and social-economic impactsThe objective of the project is to assess the impact of industrial pollution on food safety and human health in the populated Norwegian, Finnish, and Russian border region. The project will also get insight into people’s risk perception due to pollution of their local environment through interviews and questionnaires. The level of contamination in local food items (fish, game, berries etc.) important for local consumption will be determined. The data will be used to compare risk for population groups with potential different dietary pattern and exposure. This will provide a good base for local and cross-border strategies to reduce potential risks. Data on contaminant levels in local harvested food and in humans can be integrated with monitoring of key human health endpoints in future human risk assessments and food safety management. Assessment of results will be communicated to stakeholders within participating countries (i.e., general public, government, and industry)
Project website: kolarctic.nilu.no
Healthy lifestyle promotion in educational institutions in Lithuania and Belarus cross - border
Both partners have the same problems. One of the main contemporary problems the schools face are the pupils' health problems. Very low sport activeness of pupils in education institutions, lack of knowledge of healthy life style in education system cause frequent sickness. Moreover, this problem has more serious affects in the future, because if the pupils do not get enough information about healthy lifestyle, they are not used to live healthily, which causes more serious health problems at adultery stage. In order to solve these problems the partners are going to reconstruct their sport infrastructure and carry out joint healthy lifestyle promotion activities. Objective: to propagate pupils' healthy lifestyle through sports aiming at reducing health problems and to strenghten the experience share and cooperation of Lithuanian and Belarusian schools.Results&outputs: the project partners intend to achieve their goals by reconstructing the sports field and stadium in two gymnasiums, organising joint seminars and sports events and spreading the information about the achievements of the project in the regional media.
Project website: www.vanagas.alytus.lm.lt
Improvement of the health service by means of IT technology in dermal and lungs cancer diagnostics
Cancer is still threatening a large part of the Lithuanian and Belarusian population nowadays. E.g. every year more than 3000 new cases of lung cancer are diagnosed in Lithuania and Belarus. The incidence of skin cancer has increased also increased dramatically over the last 30-40 years. The project will strengthen the cross-border bilateral cooperation of the leading national healthcare (oncology) institutions), which will provide for an effective intelligent ICT based innovative tool allowing determining timely diagnosis and facilitating more accurate treatment decisions based on more case scenarios. In order to assure better and more accurate diagnostic results, large data base of cancer cases is essential. The project will work in order to join together the Belarusian and Lithuanian databases.Objectives: The project aims at strengthening the health care in Belarus and Lithuania and promoting the cross-cultural communication of the leading scientific and healthcare institutions of Lithuania and Belarus. This will be achieved through professional networking and better empowerment of oncology professionals.Results&outputs: The project will improve the quality of health services in early dermal and lung cancer diagnostics using the advantages of IT technologies in cross-border regions. The combined database of targeted disease-case scenarios will be developed. The scientific and medical staff from Belarus and Lithuania will take part in joint trainings and, later on the improved health services will be provided to the patients.
Project website: www.bntu.by