Active Citizens for Healthy Ageing: Experts of the TITTAN project meet in Saxony

Dresden, February 2018 – From 5 to 7 February the Free State of Saxony hosted the fifth interregional workshop of the TITTAN project. The workshop was attended by high-level representatives of the European partner regions and experts from the healthcare sector. The workshop took place in Dresden and Leipzig and was organized by HEALTHY SAXONY. The exchange, comparison and implementation of good practices in health and healthcare are the main goals of the research project.

Around 30 participants from the European regions – Amsterdam Metropolitan Area/ Almere (Netherlands), Basque Country (Spain), Galicia (Spain), Lombardy (Italy), Lower Silesia (Poland) and Scotland (UK) – were welcomed at the University Hospital Carl Gustav Carus Dresden by Martin Strunden, Head of Department 35 “Health industry, preventive healthcare and telematics” of the State Ministry of Social Affairs and Consumer Protection, and by Prof. Michael Albrecht, Chief Medical Director of the Dresden University Hospital. “The exchange of experience between European health regions is essential for the sustainable development of cutting-edge medicine in the partner regions. The association has managed to raise positive awareness for Saxony at European level”, stated Prof. Albrecht, who is also first CEO of the association HEALTHY SAXONY.

The framework for the three-day workshop in Leipzig and Dresden was the thematic area 3 “Active citizens for healthy ageing”. At the workshop some best practices from the different European regions were presented, discussed and linked with each other. The aim of thematic area 3 is to raise awareness about the uptake of innovation within the healthcare sector and its integration into ageing and health management. Above all, the use of new technologies and prevention approaches, the inclusion of new organization models and networking among patients, doctors, hospitals and other medical providers via telemedicine projects share this common goal. As a result, the focus is on improving the quality of life and adequate care of the elderly.

The results of the workshop will be jointly evaluated and it will be determined how the regions can benefit from them. The evaluation will result in recommendations for action and suggestions for improvement concerning the healthy policy.

From Saxony several tested and successful good practices were presented. For example, the Stroke Network in eastern Saxony (SOS-NET) that has become a reference application for the inpatient treatment of acute stroke far beyond Saxony. A key element is an integrated care path (SOS-Care) which extends from rehabilitation up to one year of outpatient follow-up care. The technological base is since mid-2015 the platform CCS-Telehealth Eastern Saxony (CCS-THOS), which was jointly developed by Carus Consilium Sachsen GmbH and T-Systems International GmbH and supported by the European Union and the Free State of Saxony with funds from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF). The quality assured path for care and documentation has been technically implemented by linking acute care and rehabilitation clinics. Within an aftercare program patients are assisted by one or more case managers in compliance with this pathway.

The Network GeriNet showed with the training plan “GeriNeTrainer”, directed to health professionals and interested non-professionals for a comprehensive and local establishment of sport groups for people with dementia, how coordinated supply structures in healthcare can be provided across sectors for elderly and dementia patients.

The aim of the geo-referenced web portal KOMPASS Leipzig presented by GeriNet is to improve the quality of life of older people and those needing care in their familiar living environment.

During the visit to the Fraunhofer Institute for Cell Therapy and Immunology in Leipzig, on the second day of the workshop, Dr. Dirk Kuhlmeier (working group leader for nanotechnology) introduced Point-of-Care-Diagnostics and the research areas of the Institute. Additionally, Hospital St. Georg gGmbH Leipzig informed about the progress in the diagnosis of rare inborn errors of the immune system.

The TITTAN Workshop ended with a visit to the Proton Treatment Centre of the Dresden University Hospital. During the workshop the European partners and experts gained a deep insight into the innovations and plans of the Saxon healthcare sector. On the other hand, the representatives of the Saxon health industry benefitted from the innovative concepts of the other European regions. For example, research company TECNALIA from the Basque Country in Spain presented a software solution “Equimetrix” that aims at improving the quality of elderly people’s lives.

About the TITTAN project

In April 2016 HEALTHY SAXONY together with six European regions (Galicia as project coordinator, Amsterdam metropolitan Area, Basque Country, Lombardy, Lower Silesia and Scotland) started the two-year project TITTAN (Network for Technology, Innovation and Translation in Ageing). The exchange, comparison and implementation of good practices in healthcare are the main goals of the research project. Thus, TITTAN contributes to the improvement of the quality of life and performance of the European regional healthcare systems in relation to healthy and active ageing.

The development, introduction and implementation of innovative technology-based products and solutions are funded through the project with 1.7 million euros from Interreg Europe. In a series of international workshops different regionally tested, good practices are compared and suggestions for improvement are made to the participating regions. The results of the project are recommendations for action which propose to the regional policy approaches for changing the framework conditions.

The international project offers HEALTHY SAXONY the opportunity to introduce Saxony’s health industry at European level and to learn at the same time about other established structural models.

About HEALTHY SAXONY

HEALTHY SAXONY, the face of Saxony’s healthcare sector, exists since March 2014. The association has at the moment 23 members, like the two University Hospitals of Saxony, the Heart Centers Dresden and Leipzig, the Hospital Chemnitz, stakeholders from outpatient and inpatient treatment as well as AOK Plus, the largest statutory health insurance company in Saxony. The members of the association are directly represented as stakeholders in the TITTAN project. The predecessor of the association was a project funded by the Saxon Ministry of Social Affairs and Consumer Protection and designed to create a coordination center for the healthcare sector. Carus Consilium Sachsen GmbH and the Dresden International University GmbH were its promoters.

The association aims at promoting science and research, the public healthcare sector and the public care system. Not only companies and universities benefit from the cooperation between the different members, but the mutual exchange and transfer of knowledge also means an asset for consumers. Among other tasks, the association brings new ideas and results to conferences and meetings and helps creating and supporting care projects, which are frequently cross-sectoral. Furthermore, it supports its members by identifying and opening funding opportunities and by participating in EU competence networks. Above all, small and medium-sized enterprises can benefit from the creation and maintenance of a digital database for Saxony: the Digital Health Atlas of Saxony www.healthy-saxony.com, as well as from the promotion of relevant findings of scientific research and their implementation into practice and public dissemination.

Voor meer informatie kunt u kijken op de projectpagina van project TITTAN.