The BSPC Working Group on Innovation in Social and Healthcare came together for its fifth meeting on invitation by the Finnish Parliament in Tampere on 16-17 March.
The meeting was preceded by a study tour of Tampere University Central Hospital and expert presentations on the prevention of diabetes & cardiovascular diseases and on electronic reporting linked to operations planning & budgeting at the communal level. The Clinical Nutritionist in Pirkanmaa Hospital District briefed the WG members on a program for the prevention of type 2 diabetes in Finland. The program has shown the magnitude of the diabetic epidemic in Finland, and has since been adopted in most Finnish health care centers for screening and interventions, has been included into local and regional prevention care protocols, and has further been adopted for the prevention of other non-communicable diseases. Most importantly, the project has shown that large-scale screening and effective lifestyle intervention for preventing type 2 diabetes are possible also in primary healthcare settings.
The Chief Physician at the Centre of General Practice in Pirkanmaa Hospital District then briefed the WG members on electronic health reporting. The expert demonstrated that only when the promotion of welfare becomes an integral part of the operational and financial planning of local authorities and is linked to the preparation of the local budget, do local strategies and strategy work underlining the importance of welfare become serious politics.
At Tampere University Central Hospital, the WG members received presentations about diabetes research and vaccine development at the hospital against type 1 diabetes.
The insights gained in Tampere will be considered for the Final Report of the WG, which will be further elaborated during the remainder of the mandate of the Working Group, to be presented at the conference on 30 August – 1 September in Rostock-Warnemünde. The Working Group debated extensively over the overall content of the report and agreed to focus especially on innovation, cooperation, prevention, health economy, treatment, ethics & values.
The sixth and final meeting of the Working Group will be held in Mariehamn on 11-12 June.