The bigger picture for e-health

For this e-health theme issue, the Bulletin brought together leading thinkers in the field of e-health to discuss how new technologies can lead to better health for all.

Desmond Tutu
Desmond Tutu is chairman of GeHAP, the Global eHealth Ambassadors Program of the International Society for Telemedicine and eHealth, which aims to raise the profile of e-health worldwide, through advocacy activities.

Q: Can e-health help narrow gaps in social inequality across the world? If so, how?

A: Technology is a major driving force of our civilization. Whether through medicines to heal the sick or products for growing food to feed the hungry, or most recently information and communication technology to fuel economic and social growth, technology has always been intertwined with human development. Today the technology most accessible to the poor and disenfranchised is the mobile phone. If we want a vehicle for reaching the underserved with interventions from health and other sectors of the economy, the mobile phone is the technology of choice.

Q: Can e-health help to tackle the social determinants of health?

A: Definitely. What we need is a paradigm shift from information and communications technologies for health to a greater emphasis on information and communications technologies for development, which benefit health but also have an effect on education, agriculture, commerce, governance and other social determinants of health. What the poor and the vulnerable need is not only good health but good lives.

Q: What can governments and international agencies do to promote the benefits of e-health?

A: Governments set the rules of the game and international agencies have great influence on all players. The right policies and strategies for development of e-health, with proper emphasis on reducing inequalities can play a big role in promoting adoption of e-health technologies and thereby extend their benefits. Once people enjoy the benefits themselves, they will become agents of further promotion and drivers of future adoption. Developing national policies and strategies which create a fertile regulatory environment for e-health, building capacity through, for example, training programmes and on-the-job training for all health workers – these are some of the mechanisms through which governments and international agencies can help provide an enabling environment for the growth of e-health in countries.

For more interviews, check out the full story here

Flexible working to make therapy available at convenient times

Our recent article on the CfWI Blog:

"Guest blogger Barnaby Perks from PsychologyOnline reflects on the importance of the CfWI’s report on the psychological therapies workforce.


Psychological therapies include cognitive behavioural therapy, psychodynamic psychotherapy, interpersonal therapy, arts therapies (including art, music and drama therapy), counselling, and family and couple therapy. The CfWI Improving workforce planning for the psychological therapies workforce review was published today. As well as highlight the absence of a definition of what a psychological therapist actually is, the report emphasises the need to support workforce planning across organisations commissioning and delivering psychological therapies so effective services can be delivered. This needs to include new ways of working such as online services. At PsychologyOnline we believe that therapy should be made available in a way that suits the needs of service users rather than service providers. For many people this means accessing therapy in the evening from the comfort of home. For this to happen there has to be a shift in the way the therapist workforce is planned for, developed and managed on the frontline. We see a fundamental mismatch of supply and demand in psychological therapies. Therapy is predominantly made available during the working day, with limited out-of-hours service. However, our experience tells us that people don’t want to take time off work and prefer appointments outside the working day, especially weekday evenings between 6pm and 10pm. And they’d rather not travel. We believe that people should have the option of accessing therapy in a way that fits in with their busy lives. We use the internet to connect therapists and service users for therapy in a secure online meeting room – most choose to access the service from home on weekday evenings. For many people, online therapy is an efficient and convenient solution. However, it doesn’t suit everybody. There will always be some who prefer or need face-to-face therapy. We believe that widespread use of online therapy would free up valuable face-to-face resources to be targeted at those with the greatest need. Implementing online services across the NHS won’t be easy. The NHS would need to change the way it manages its workforce, particularly in terms of flexible, variable hours and home working. However, this must be addressed if the NHS is serious about providing services to patients that fit around their busy work and family schedules. Read the report: Improving workforce planning for the psychological therapies workforce Leave your thoughts below and visit us at http://www.psychologyonline.co.uk"

View the article here