A “P5” Approach to Healthcare and Health Technology

Abstract

The challenges represented by chronic conditions worldwide are related to disease management and patient engagement. Healthcare should open not only to new tools and resources but also to innovative approaches. This contribution deepens the concept of P5 medicine, namely, an evolution of patient-centered medicine approaches which tries to identify the main characteristics medical interventions should have in order to meet patients’ needs. Specifically, healthcare should be predictive, personalized, preventive, participatory, and psychocognitive. eHealth, or the use of new technologies in healthcare contexts, represents an extraordinary opportunity to achieve all of these features. The second part of this contribution will present brief history of eHealth, its development, the multiple forms it assumes today, and literature on encouraging results and emerging criticalities as well. The present book will feature guidelines and examples of how eHealth could be designed and implemented in order to reach P5 recommendations in healthcare globally.