57 projects competing for the XIV Andrea Alesini Award for Good Practices in Healthcarepromoted by Active Citizenship and dedicated in this edition to the areas of digital innovation and cultural welfare as tools to promote the humanisation of care. The awards ceremony took place today in Rome, at the Enpam Foundation, in the presence of the jury and the four winning subjects and gods three mentioned.
For the area digital innovationthe jury selected the StomyCraft project of the Federation of Incontinent and Ostomate Associations which focused on gamification as a tool to improve the self-management of the pediatric patient, and the Tobit project of the San Camillo Forlanini hospital in Rome, which puts teleconsultation at the service of patients with severe intellectual disabilities and autism. For the scope cultural welfare have been selected the Spes project – organized by ASL Torino, Cultural Welfare Center, Psychiatry Society, Social Community Theater Center – which provides a training course for teachers aimed at preventing and identifying adolescents at risk of suicide early, and the HelloPet project! of the Biella Health Authority, which focuses on pet therapy as a tool to improve the psychophysical health of patients forced to have long stays in hospital, in particular children and people with terminal illnesses. There are three projects mentioned: home electroencephalogram services for frail and elderly patients (hospitals in Ravenna, Faenza and Lugo); an app to improve therapeutic adherence, in particular for taking medications, in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (Coordination of Rare Diseases of Piedmont and Valle d’Aosta); the creation of an electronic medical record for patients in rehabilitation, particularly innovative because it focuses on the analysis of individual needs and on the valorisation of the work of the medical team (Lega del Filo d’Oro).
“For years, the Alesini Award has been for us the award for healthcare that works because it puts women and men at the center of the system, restoring to healthcare services that human dimension that by nature should distinguish them, as Andrea Alesini, the doctor to whom the Award itself is dedicated” he declares Anna Lisa Mandorino, General Secretary of Cittadinanzattiva. “The challenge, which we undertake to pursue from today, is to build a good healthcare network, made up of technological and digital innovation, cultural and system tools that support citizen-friendly healthcare services and are attentive to their health needs. care and humanity. And we want to do it together with citizens and civic and patient associations and with all the professionals and healthcare companies present here and awarded, who once again show a strong attachment to the National Health Service, despite the difficulties and objective shortcomings with which we do the accounts for a long time”.
The Alesini Award is promoted by Cittadinanzattiva with the non-conditioning contribution of Farmindustria, as in other editions. The list and complete description of the experiences received are available at this link.
Below is a detail of the four winning projects
DIGITAL INNOVATION IN HEALTHCARE AREA
Project: STOMYCRAFT FAIS – Federation of Incontinent and Ostomate Associations
StomyCraft is an innovative project that uses Minecraft as an educational platform to improve stoma management in pediatric patients. Through the use of gamification techniques, the project simulates the management of the healthcare facility and promotes correct nutrition. StomyCraft addresses the lack of educational resources for this condition by creating an engaging virtual environment that teaches self-management practices, improving patients’ mental and physical well-being. The digital nature of the project also facilitates communication between patients, caregivers and healthcare professionals and has led to an increase in patients’ acceptance of the condition, the strengthening of empowerment and autonomous management of the stoma, and the reduction of the need for access to health facilities.
Project: TOBIA SERVICE – San Camillo Forlanini Hospital
The TOBIA Service (Operational Team for Individual Care Needs), launched in 2019, includes specific training for hospital staff and uses teleconsultation to improve and reduce the need for trips to the hospital for disabled patients to whom they are provided in the same day the care they need, using the 3A scheme: Reception – is based on the information received from the caregivers which provides a reference framework of the patient’s degree of collaboration and complexity; Listening – is carried out over the telephone and in-depth documentary information, useful for preventive clinical evaluation, is sent by family members by email to the Service. Afterwards, an appointment is arranged at the hospital; Accompaniment during the internal hospital journey – all patients are expected at the entrance to the hospital pavilion and accompanied by a member of the Tobia Team who assists with the visit or examination, providing support for the needs expressed by the disabled person and the caregivers. The provision of the service has become transversal in all areas of the San Camillo Hospital Company and today it is also provided in 3 other healthcare companies in Lazio: ASL Rieti, PTV, San Giovanni Addolorata Hospital Company, Sant’Andrea Hospital Company.
CULTURAL WELFARE AREA
Project: SPES – SUPPORT AND PREVENT EXPERIENCES OF SUICIDALITY – Piedmont, Social Community Theater Centre, Cultural Welfare Centre, Mother and Child Department of the ASL City of Turin, Italian Society of Child Neuropsychiatry – Piedmont section.
The SPES project was created to respond to the growing mental health fragility of adolescents, accentuated by the COVID-19 pandemic, and in particular to the increase in suicidality (suicidal ideation and suicide attempts) in this age group. A training format aimed at teachers (and indirectly at children) was created that allowed them to acquire greater skills, both in terms of basic health knowledge and in terms of “soft skills”, in order to identify adolescents at risk of suicide early, through the use of theatrical methodology.
The project aimed to promote dialogue between the world of care, school and culture with a view to inter-sectorality that combats inequalities and supports the well-being of the population. 5 performances of the theatrical show were performed in Piedmont and Valle d’Aosta and 5 theatrical workshops were held. A scientific study was also conducted on 191 teachers, which highlighted how the training significantly improved the ability of the teachers involved to recognize signs of distress among students.
Project: HELLOPET! – Biella Health Authority
Designed by two nurses, the project allows meetings between patients and their pets to improve the quality of care, reduce the stress of hospitalization and overcome emotional isolation, especially at the end of life, for pediatric patients and those who I have been in hospital for more than 15 days. The idea of the two nurses was born in 2019 when a still young gentleman was hospitalized with a diagnosis that left no escape. His last wish was to be able to hug his beloved dog one last time but despite his efforts it was not possible. From that moment on, the challenge of successfully realizing the project began.
The meetings take place in safe and private spaces of the hospital, which patients access in wheelchairs or beds, contributing to their psycho-physical well-being.
