Box 2.
Case examples of DPH services in Europe.
| COVID-19 |
HealthBuddy+: a chatbot created through a joint initiative of the WHO/Europe and the United Nations Children’s Fund Europe and Central Asia Regional Office (UNICEF/ECARO). It is accessible in Europe and Central Asia and its goal is to provide access to up-to-date and evidence-based information on COVID-19.20 Digital epidemiological surveillance: an umbrella term for the so-called 'coronadashboards' that are created by European countries to provide continually updated information on the state of COVID-19 in the respective country.21 |
| Primary care |
My Health: a personal space of digital health that allows the citizens of Catalonia to interact in a non-contact way with the Health System of Catalonia. It facilitates its users to consult clinical reports, diagnoses and results of clinical analyses and tests that are part of its medical history. Users can also access their current Medication Plan to go directly to the pharmacy, request a primary care visit, or access various non-face-to-face care services (e.g. eConsult: a system that allows health professionals to ask health-related questions, carry out procedures, and send documents).22 AccuRx: a digital healthcare start-up supported by Innovate UK who developed and rolled out video consultation software that enabled United Kingdom (UK) healthcare providers to communicate remotely with their patients, thus minimising infection risk from seeing patients with COVID-19. Within a few months, it was used to conduct over one million video consultations and was used in 6700 GP practices. It protected National Health Service (NHS) professionals and patients and increased NHS efficiency, saving each user approximately 40 minutes per day.23,24 |
| Mental health |
Now I Can Do Heights: a software application by Oxford VR that seeks to help users with acrophobia overcome their fear of heights. The application is for adults older than 18 years and designed to be used without a supporting therapist.25 In a randomised control trial (RCT) of 100 participants, Now I Can Do Heights has demonstrated the capability of producing large clinical effects (mean change of the Heights Interpretation Questionnaire score –24·5 [SD 13·1] in the VR group versus –1·2 [7·3] in the control group).25 GET.ON Mood Enhancer Prevention: a web-based, guided self-help intervention based on psychoeducation, problem-solving therapy, and behavioral activation. In a RCT of 406 participants in Germany, GET.ON produced a hazard ratio of 0·59 [95% CI: 0·42-0·82] in participants with subthreshold depression. GET.ON could also potentially prevent one clinical case of major depressive disorder within a 12 month period after 5·9 sessions.26 |
| Obesity | Esporti Family: a mobile application whose objective is to treat childhood obesity which allows sharing information among professionals, patients and families. It teaches kids and their families healthy habits and nutrition through gamification and encourages them to increase their level of physical activity. A two-month trial of 67 users in Murcia, Spain showed an overall 44·4% reduction in fast food consumption, 38% of users increased their weekly physical exercise, and 27% of users increased their sleep hours.27 |