Maintaining and improving the intrinsic capacity involving primary care and caregivers
POSITIVE is a comprehensive system to bring care home by constantly monitoring a patient’s intrinsic capacity and sounding an alarm when a decline in that capacity may indicate the onset of a disease or disability. The system unites a person’s full community of carers, bringing together the patient, caregiver and primary and specialised care professionals.
Origins
Extending life expectancy is not as much of a challenge for medical science as it once was. The real challenge with our ageing society is to increase the quality of life of the years to be lived. Preventing disability is crucial to achieve such goal. To do this a paradigm change is needed to shift the focus from disease to capacity, from diagnosing diseases to monitoring trajectories across the course of a person’s life.
Team
POSITIVE is led by SERMAS, through its EIP-AHA reference site (Getafe University Hospital). All partners involved are among the leading institutions in the relevant segments in their countries. They also represent a broad range of European locations: UPM and ATOS in Spain, Karolinska Institut in Sweden and the Medical University of Lodz in Poland.
The project
Using remote monitoring of a person’s intrinsic capacity, POSITIVE provides a technological infrastructure to enable a new organisational model for elderly care – a model that involves all the relevant actors: patient, caregiver and primary and specialised care.
The WHO has defined intrinsic capacity as a composite of all the physical and mental attributes on which an individual can draw, and studies have shown that it is a reliable predictor of a person’s well-being. By monitoring intrinsic capacity, POSITIVE not only provokes a shift in the care setting but also shifts the focus from disease to capacity, from diagnosing diseases to monitoring trajectories across the life course, centring care on the person in an integrated way.
Patients are assessed constantly, and, as needed, a tailored physical activity programme is automatically prescribed to maintain or improve their condition. Caregivers are aware of any decline and can check whether the senior being monitored is alright at any given time. Primary care professionals can process alarms related to dangerous declines of intrinsic capacity and adjust treatments accordingly, with the assistance of a decision support system. As the remote system keeps them in regular contact, primary carers can involve specialised care if needed.
Impact
POSITIVE will have positive impacts on patients and their families because it brings management of frailty closer to the elderly, offering specialised and primary care at home. The benefit for patients, and therefore also payers, will be reduced costs: the innovation promises to help patients obtain a 10% reduction in costs related to hospitalisation and emergency and specialised care, as well as a 3% reduction in total health costs annually.
Why this is an EIT Health Project
POSITIVE advances the EIT Health goal of promoting active ageing by monitoring warning signs of frailty and permitting prevention. It directly addresses the EIT Health focus area of “Bringing Care Home”, because it allows carers to constantly check on a person in their home, and also lets them remotely prescribe solutions to changes in the person’s condition.
Partners

CLC/InnoStars: Spain
Partner classification: Business
Partner type: Associate Partner
Atos is a leader in digital services with almost 100,000 employees in 72 countries with a focus on business technology that powers progress and helps organizations create their firm of the future. We rely on our vast experience in health standards (HL7, CEN/ISO EN13606, openEHR archetypes) and privacy & security in digital health; and the creation of Big data for: (1) Omics Technologies and data analysis; (2) services within the healthcare domain; as well as the design and development of decision support systems. Areas of specialization: Big data, EHR interoperability, HIS business development.
Key Activities in Corporate Innovation
ICT
Key Activities in Business Creation
Technology Transfer, Business coaching
Key Activities in Education
Entrepreneurship training


CLC/InnoStars: Scandinavia
Partner classification: Education, Research
Partner type: Core Partner
Karolinska Institutet is one of the world's leading medical Universities. Our mission is to contribute to the improvement of human health through research and education. Our research covers the entire medical field, from basic molecular biological research, to clinical epidemiology and nursing science. Since 1901 the Nobel Assembly at Karolinska Institutet has selected the Nobel laureates in Physiology or Medicine. With our close relationship to the clinical world, a well-established infrastructure, a unique innovation system and financial stability, Karolinska Institutet has excellent prerequisites for sustaining high-quality research and education.
Key Activities in Corporate Innovation
Pharma, Med Tech, Diagnostics, Imaging, Nutrition
Key Activities in Social Innovation
Healthcare provision
Key Activities in Business Creation
Incubation, Technology Transfer, Business coaching, Testing & Validation
Key Activities in Education
Entrepreneurship training, Medical faculties, Healthcare professional education/training


CLC/InnoStars: Scandinavia
Partner classification: Education, Research
Partner type: Core Partner
KTH is Sweden's largest technical university with education and research spanning from natural sciences to all branches of engineering, including life science, mathematical and computational sciences, infrastructure in health, and medical devices.
KTH Royal Institute of Technology
KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Brinellvägen 8, 114 28 Stockholm, Sweden
Key Activities in Corporate Innovation
Med Tech, ICT, Diagnostics, Imaging
Key Activities in Social Innovation
Healthcare provision
Key Activities in Business Creation
Incubation, Technology Transfer, Testing & Validation
Key Activities in Education
Technical faculties, Healthcare professional education/training


CLC/InnoStars: InnoStars
Partner classification: Education, Research
Partner type: Core Partner
MUL is among the largest state-owned medical Universities in Poland. It has reached a leading position in the following research areas: immunology, molecular biology, genetics of homeostasis disorders, oncology, hypertension and endocrinology. Within the last two years, young researchers from MUL were considered leaders in areas such as cardiology, oncology, immunology and dermatology.
Medical University of Łódź
Medical University of Łódź, Kościuszki 4, 90-419 Łódź, Poland
Key Activities in Corporate Innovation
Med Tech, Diagnostics
Key Activities in Social Innovation
Healthcare provision
Key Activities in Business Creation
Technology Transfer, Testing & Validation
Key Activities in Education
Entrepreneurship training, Medical faculties, Healthcare professional education/training


CLC/InnoStars: Spain
Partner classification: Municipality / City, Hospital / University Hospital
Partner type: Core Partner
Servicio Madrileño de Salud (SERMAS) is the public health provider of the region of Madrid with a budget of 7.867 M € for 2018. SERMAS belongs to the Spanish National Health System and provides services to more than six million citizens, it is integrated by more than 35 hospitals and approximately 400 primary care centres. SERMAS is an international reference for high-specialized medicine; it is equipped with state-of-the art stage technologies and characterized by high-qualified health professionals distributed in three domains: Primary Care, Hospitals and health emergencies 112. SERMAS has one of the best public primary care systems in good coordination with social services in order to provide integrated care and achieve real impact on patients and families. SERMAS participates and coordinates several European Reference Networks (ERN), in integrated rare diseases platforms, even leading some of these collaborative units. In order to improve health research management and coordination, SERMAS works with more than 12 Research Foundations located in university hospitals and in primary care, covering all areas of specialties, including public health, emergency and communication and information technologic departments. These public research foundations are focused on translational research and innovation activities, seeking for real outcomes in healthcare. SERMAS is committed to ensure the continuous improvement of quality. Areas of specialization: Active ageing, frailty, big data, primary care, precision medicine.
Servicio Madrileño de Salud (SERMAS)
Servicio Madrileño de Salud (SERMAS) , 28802 Alcala de Henares, Madrid, Spain
Key Activities in Social Innovation
Healthcare provision, Payers
Key Activities in Business Creation
Technology Transfer, Testing & Validation
Key Activities in Education
Medical faculties, Healthcare professional education/training


CLC/InnoStars: Spain
Partner classification: Education, Research
Partner type: Core Partner
Universidad Politécnica de Madrid health activities cover a wide variety of topics, being the Biotech initiative its flagship: a stable interdisciplinar environment grouping UPM research groups with high expertise and qualified infrastructure to address major challenges in Biomedicine and Health. With special focus in ICT for health, UPM has capabilities and R&D results in all EIT Health areas in order to transfer advanced ICT and Health solutions and technologies to the Industry partners, to validate those solutions in our Living Labs, to promote the start-up of new ventures issued by UPM community and regional Health ecosystem, and to offer high quality and experienced educational programmes.
Universidad Politécnica de Madrid (Technical University of Madrid) - UPM
Universidad Politécnica de Madrid (Technical University of Madrid) - UPM, Calle Ramiro de Maeztu, 7, 28040 Madrid, España
Key Activities in Business Creation
Incubation, Technology Transfer, Business coaching, Testing & Validation
Key Activities in Education
Entrepreneurship training, Technical faculties, Healthcare professional education/training
