PROCare4Life integrated care model validation

Abstract

This article focuses on reporting the methodology and results of the EU funded project PROCare4Life, whose main goal has been to develop an integrated, personalised, IT system, to empower and improve the Quality of Life of elderly people living with Parkinsons’, Alzheimer’s or other dementia. Research has been implemented to evaluate the results against PROCare4Life integrated care strategy. Multimethod, quantitative, and qualitative research has been performed, profiting from the pilot 3 results gathered by consortium members. The article has been organised according to the research questions, which were based on the expected results by PROCare4Life that might relate to supporting the future integration of care when the system is further developed and integrated into healthcare provision organisations. The PROCare4Life system is a digital tool that includes features that might support the advance of the integration of care, such as data sharing among multidisciplinary healthcare professionals and with patients and caregivers, the enhancement of direct communication among them or the constant sharing of the data monitored by the PROCare4Life system. TRL 7 was achieved by the final prototype of the PROCare4Life system. Pilot representatives consider the PROCare4Life idea and underlying model of care very innovative and promising, and believe it can certainly improve care practice through more enhanced integrated care. It is usable for people of different ages, conditions, socioeconomic levels. It has been assessed to be more effective for elderly people living with Parkinson’s than with dementia. Patients and caregivers indicated that the system helped them reduce their anxiety and increase their quality of life. Although overall assessment of the system by healthcare professionals was positive, divided opinions were shared on its capability to save time. Requirements for future scalability have been included in the last section.