The second edition of “Your voice counts” once again connects innovation with citizens

• Attendees participated in the development of a new digital tool to improve home hospitalization 

What do citizens think of new health technologies? Do they really meet their needs? With this desire to listen and incorporate their opinion before innovating, the Parc Taulí Research and Innovation Institute (I3PT) held this Thursday in the Auditorium of the Ponent Library in Sabadell the second edition of "Your voice counts.", a day of participation that has once again turned the citizenship as an active part of the innovation process.  

The president of the Parc Taulí Health Corporation, Dolores Costa, was in charge of opening the session and highlighted the importance of this type of meeting: “Innovation in health only makes sense if it is built with and for people. It is not just about explaining what we do, but above all about listening.".  

Costa recalled that this cycle was born last year with the aim of "bringing research and innovation closer to society and creating a real dialogue with patients, families and professionals", giving continuity to the first edition, in which the mental health project was presented INDICATIVE.

PREDIHAD: artificial intelligence to improve home hospitalization

This edition focused on the project PREDIHAD, presented by researchers Ester Risco, Rafael Jiménez i Vanessa gonzalezThe initiative consists of a digital tool based on artificial intelligence that helps healthcare professionals identify which patients can safely receive hospitalization at home.

During the session, the research team explained how home hospitalization currently works at Parc Taulí and what types of treatments can be done at home with the same quality of care as in the hospital. In this context, PREDIHAD acts as a clinical decision support system: it securely analyzes the patient's clinical, functional and social information and offers a recommendation that helps the medical team assess whether home admission is the most appropriate option.

The researchers have insisted that technology does not replace professional judgment, but rather functions as a "co-pilot" that allows for safer and more personalized decisions. They have also wanted to dispel some myths about home hospitalization, explaining that it is a real, safe and increasingly present alternative, but that it is not applicable to all cases, since certain clinical and family conditions and environment are required.

This healthcare model, they stressed, “can provide substantial benefits for patients, such as greater comfort, proximity to the family environment and continued monitoring by professionals".

Citizenship as a fundamental part of the innovation process 

One of the central moments of the day was the final participatory dynamic, in which attendees were able to share opinions, concerns and experiences about the project and about home hospitalization. Through a series of open questions, reflections were collected that will serve to better adapt the tool and guide its development. 

This approach turns the session into a real co-creation space, in which the voice of citizens becomes a key element in defining what the technological solutions of the future should be like. 

“An innovative healthcare system must be inclusive and based on the active participation of people. We need to understand their concerns to develop useful solutions that truly meet their needs and generate real impact.", he said Martin Leon, head of the I3PT Innovation Unit and one of the drivers of the initiative.  

The good participation recorded in this second edition confirms the interest of citizens in taking part in this type of conference and reinforces the I3PT's commitment to continuing to promote initiatives that incorporate a social perspective in the development of new solutions.