Towards internet communities to help improve the wellbeing andrehabilitation of clinically stable chronic patients

Abstract

The EU project NEXES introduces IT support for integrated healthcare, and attempts to prove through clinical trials how new technology can help improve healthcare. The web-based approach used in the Norwegian clinical trial on wellbeing for chronically ill patients can be seen as a very small health care community for the patients. After introducing the NEXES project, the technical platform used for the wellbeing case, and the collaboration notation in BPMN, a specific case is described in detail and related to how the collaboration between the patient and health care stakeholders can be seen as a small group. Finally reflections are given on how the clinical trial could be extended by adding a 'competition' element using online communities in order to motivate the patients to do their rehabilitation exercises, and which technology standard could be used for this approach.