The Oncommun Project has received the Francisco del Pozo award given by the European Institute of Innovation and Technology applied to Health (EIT Health) as the best Education Program of the year 2020. The awards ceremony was held yesterday, Wednesday 16 of June in a virtual format, once the conference that EIT Health has held this year has ended, under the title “Time for Trasnformation”, and in which various crucial issues have been discussed, such as the role that innovation will play in the coming years in the health sector or its impact.
EIT Health aims to enhance disease prevention and health promotion by promoting active aging and improvement of patients with chronic diseases. Oncommun is a collaborative project between ICO, IDIBELL and the University of Barcelona (UB) that has resulted in the ICOnnecta’t platform.
What is the Oncommunity Project?
Oncommun is an innovative digital ecosystem that connects patients and professionals by combining established technologies to improve cancer healthcare through a compact and easy-to-use program. In addition, it implements a four-level tiered care to respond quickly and individually to the needs of each patient. Almost 1,500 European citizens have participated in the Oncommun Program between 2019 and 2020.
On the other hand, the results have shown an improvement in the quality of life and an estimated reduction of 31.15% in the total time of sick leave for breast cancer. In addition, more than 90% of the users have only needed care within the first levels of preventive care, confirming that a proactive program for the promotion of psychosocial health and health education is decisive and avoids the worsening and chronification of the emotional distress linked to the disease. The proposal also shows a potential to cushion the impact on emotional distress and quality of life during the first year after a cancer diagnosis at a lower cost.
The Bellvitge Biomedical Research Institute (IDIBELL) is a biomedical research center created in 2004. It is participated by the Bellvitge University Hospital and the Viladecans Hospital of the Catalan Institute of Health, the Catalan Institute of Oncology, the University of Barcelona and the City Council of L’Hospitalet de Llobregat.
IDIBELL is a member of the Campus of International Excellence of the University of Barcelona HUBc and is part of the CERCA institution of the Generalitat de Catalunya. In 2009 it became one of the first five Spanish research centers accredited as a health research institute by the Carlos III Health Institute. In addition, it is part of the “HR Excellence in Research” program of the European Union and is a member of EATRIS and REGIC. Since 2018, IDIBELL has been an Accredited Center of the AECC Scientific Foundation (FCAECC).