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Health forum: Experts call for a more holistic view of patients


The health expectation (healthy life years at birth) in Austria at 57 years for men and at 58 years for women is well below the European average of 64 and 65 years respectively. At this year's qualityaustria health forum, experts therefore called for a more holistic view of patients. There is a need for a higher level of health literacy among the population and, moreover, for more weighting of the advantages and disadvantages in health decisions. The topics of epigenetics and psychoneuroimmunology could also be of greater use in the future.

"Healthcare logbook - the journey into the unknown" was this year's motto at the 15th qualityaustria health forum. The focus was not on the ubiquitous pandemic, but on a much broader consideration of the health system. "We have to find ways and means to provide medical and nursing services not only more effectively and efficiently in the future, but also, above all, of higher quality", explained Dr.med.univ. Gunther Schreiber, Network partner, project management and coordination of the healthcare sector, Quality Austria. A central approach should be a more holistic view of the patient.

Interdisciplinary research area psychoneuroimmunology

The qualityaustria expert brought issues such as psychoneuroimmunology and epigenetics into play. Psychoneuroimmunology is an interdisciplinary field of research that deals with the interaction of the psyche, the nervous system and the immune system. A neighboring field is psychoneuroendocrinology, which also includes the interactions of the hormonal system. Researchers have found evidence that feelings - similar to exercise, diet or sleep - play a key role in our immune system. The close connection between feelings and the human body could therefore play a greater role in treatment in the future than it does today.  

Epigenetics as a link between environmental influences and genes

The discovery of epigenetics, in turn, has refuted a long-cherished dogma of biology: the idea that the properties of an organism are invariably determined by the genetic material inherited at birth. In fact, epigenetics allows even subtle environmental changes to access our genetic make-up. “Epigenetics is considered to be the link between environmental influences and genes. For example, it determines under which circumstances which gene is 'switched on' and when it becomes 'silent' again. One speaks of gene regulation, ”explained Schreiber.

Greater focus on the ten health goals

For more consistent compliance with the ten health goals in Austria pleaded Dr.med.univ. Martin Sprenger, Head of the Public Health course at the Medical University of Graz. The ten goals were developed by numerous experts and form the framework for action for an overall health-promoting policy by 2032. "If Austria were to pay more attention to the ten health goals at hand, we could noticeably increase the number of healthy years of life and would also be in a better position internationally," the public health expert argues. In terms of health expectancy (healthy life years at birth), Austria is currently at the bottom of the list at 57 for men and at 58 for women: the EU average (including Switzerland, Norway and Iceland) is 64 years for men and 65 years in women. “The ten health goals were already decided in parliament in 2012 and are therefore celebrating their tenth anniversary. But hardly anyone knows them, ”says Sprenger.

http://Eurostat

Graphic: Healthy life years at birth in Europe © Eurostat

According to the public health expert, Austria must also plan more foresight, because, similar to remedying the shortage of nursing staff, it would take 20 to 30 years for the health goals to take full effect. Many of the omissions of the 80s and 90s can still be felt today. While in some Scandinavian countries less than 10 percent of the population smoke, in Austria it is still almost 30 percent.

Sprenger calls for more health impact assessments 

The public health expert would also like more health impact assessments, so that politicians can get a better sense of the consequences their decisions may have. If you don't do that, you tend to only see the benefits and not the possible side effects. In other countries this would be more practiced. "The working groups should consist of economists, psychologists, educators and public health experts, among others, because the wider the perspective, the easier it is to identify desired and undesirable side effects," demanded Sprenger. Health impact assessments are also about social justice, because the pandemic has further increased inequality.

Strengthen protection against cyber crime

Digitization was also an important topic at the health forum. The qualityaustria network partner Schreiber outlined scenarios for the “hospital of the future” and also presented the technological developments in Great Britain and Austria. Klaus Veselko, Managing Director of CIS - Certification & Information Security Service GmbH, warned of the threat to the fragile system in view of the increasing amount of sensitive data in the health system. “Cyber ​​criminals are increasingly focusing on medical facilities. The attackers know that because of the importance of medical systems they can charge very high sums of money in the event of a successful cyber attack, ”Veselko pointed out. The credo must therefore be to always be one step ahead of anonymous threats by consistently taking measures in the area of ​​cyber security.

Improvement in the care and management of crises

Paul Bechtold, qualityaustria auditor, trainer and network partner, dealt with the topic of "Crisis Management in Healthcare" and outlined how the way out of the crisis can be achieved with the help of crisis management manuals, continuity management and other methods. In addition, devoted himself Marianne Fehringer, qualityaustria auditor, trainer and network partner, on the subject of “nursing emergency”. She referred to various levers, for example at the management, budget or legal level, in order to be able to initiate an effective improvement in care in the short, medium and long term.

GALLERY: Dr.med.univ. Günther Schreiber, network partner, project management and coordination of the healthcare sector, Quality Austria © Quality Austria

QualityAustria

Quality Austria - Trainings, Certification and Assessment GmbH is the leading contact for System and product certifications, Assessments and validations, Assessments, Training and personal certification As well as the Austria quality mark. The basis is globally valid accreditations from the Federal Ministry for Digitization and Business Location and international approvals. In addition, the company has been awarding the BMDW together with the BMDW since 1996 State award for company quality. The core performance of Quality Austria lies in its competence as the national market leader for the Integrated management system to secure and increase company quality. Quality Austria is thus an essential source of inspiration for Austria as a business location and for "success with quality". It cooperates with around 50 partner and member organizations and is national representative of IQNet (The International Certification Network), EOQ (European Organization for Quality) and EFQM (European Foundation for Quality Management). Above 10.000 customers in almost 30 countries and more than 6.000 training participants per year benefit from the many years of expertise of the international company. www.qualityaustria.com

Information

Quality Austria - Trainings, Certification and Assessment GmbH

Melanie Scheiber, Head of Marketing, Public Relations

Tel .: 01-274 87 47-127, [email protected], www.qualityaustria.com

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