Sustainable, holistic, adaptable, real-time, and precise (SHARP) approach towards developing health and wellness systems

Abstract

As populations age and chronic diseases become more prevalent, new strategies are required to help people live well. Traditional models of episodic health care will not be sufficient to meet changing health care needs and the reorientation of services towards maintaining function as opposed to treating illness. One strategy to meet these challenges is an increased focus on self-care via use of broader social networks and seamless integration of applications with lifestyle activities, particularly for people with chronic diseases including diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and respiratory conditions. There has also been a rapid increase in a range of technologies for connecting different components of the health system and delivering services through smartphones and connected devices. Our proposal is to pursue systems development in healthcare in a way that considers a range of aspects known as SHARP: Sustainable, Holistic, Adaptive, Real-time and Precise. This approach will provide solutions that will be useful and effective for managing the long-term well-being of individuals.