Kristiansand and Agder region play a major role in EU project moving chronic patients to self-care
Municipalities are vulnerable when more than 19,5% of the population is + 65 years of age, and cities in the industrialised part of the world are expected to pass this level in 20 years or less. This demographic challenge is expected to stress the healthcare systems and urges the need for self-care innovation. To anticipate this situation EU project CRANE will address the problem of chronic patients in three rural areas – Region Västerbotten in Sweden, Extremadura in Spain, and in Kristiansand and Agder in Norway – with more than 30% of the population over 65.
CRANE will help change citizens self-conception from being patients to become active citizens by evolving a model where chronic patients move to self-care supported by two pillars:
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Healthcare from home: The adequate monitoring and intervention technology, supported by intelligent use of data can support the interaction with and empowerment of the patients which could dramatically reduce the need for professional healthcare.
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Garden of care: To support self-care treatments it is essential to have a strong ecosystem of health and social care providers around the patient to fulfil their multiple needs. Creating an ecosystem which is tailored to each person’s requirements can improve the feeling of control, safety, security, freedom and well-being for the citizens.
Read more about the CRANE project here and here.
Kristiansand is testing citizen participation in Nordic research project
Kristiansand is participating in the project NordicPATH with the overall objective of establishing a new model for citizens’ participation and collaborative planning in Nordic countries to create healthy and people-centred cities. The project is tackling complex environmental impacts such as air quality and climate change and is developing a method specifically targeted for the governance and the conditions of the Nordic countries with potential replicability and scalability to other countries.
The project aims at smart and sustainable solutions with a citizen-oriented approach. Technology will not be considered as a goal itself, but as a tool to increase accessibility to different societal groups, to stimulate the circular exchange of knowledge among citizens, public authorities, private sector and scientists and to foster system innovation towards sustainable development.
We have applied a co-monitoring system, combining environmental measurements from official monitoring stations and citizens’ own measuring devices. NordicPATH is also promoting more inclusive planning processes, involving citizens in the co-design of solutions to tackle environmental issues together with urban planners, authorities and scientists.
NordicPATH will develop a participation method based on community activities and identity-establishing tools. This will allow for a new participative planning culture in the Nordic countries that will not just reflect the democracy that the Nordic countries represent in the world, but also the progress towards deliberative democracy, involving and shaping important local and global issues (such as air quality) together with citizens’ input on decisions.