A WEEK of events showcasing  the innovative and valuable work of telehealth and telecare will take place in Scotland next month (October) and will feature key presentations from the Scottish dallas project, Living it Up.

The Scottish Telehealth and Telecare Week, which runs from October 28 to November 1, is being organised by the Scottish Centre for Telehealth and Telecare (SCTT) and the Scottish Government’s Joint Improvement Team (JIT) with involvement from telehealth and telecare organisations from around the world.

The week commences with the formal launch of Scotland’s new innovation centre for   digital health, the Digital Health Institute (DHI) on October 28. The Digital Health Institute is a collaboration between Scotland’s leading academic institutions, the public sector and industry, to foster innovation, generate economic growth as well as delivering innovative services and products to benefit the people of Scotland.

The inaugural European Telemedicine Conference, on October 29 and 30, will focus on all aspects of telemedicine – telehealth, telecare, e-health and m-health.. The event is being organised by SCTT and Healthcare Information Management and Systems Society (HIMSS) Europe and will feature experts in telemedicine from the USA, Spain, Norway as well as the UK. The Scottish conference sessions will focus on technologies that support an individual throughout their life stages – childhood, midlife and older age and will feature a key presentation from the Scottish dallas project, Living it Up.

Day Two of the conference will feature a European Innovation Showcase with live demonstrations of emerging health, care and mobile technologies. It will also incorporate a series of panel debates on innovation as well as ‘Dragon’s Den’ style   sessions which offer SMEs and start-ups the opportunity to pitch their new ideas to a panel of industry leaders including IBM, Samsung, Deutche Telekom and Atos.

An event for members of the public, including carers, is being held on Thursday 31^st October at Hampden Football Stadium in Glasgow. This event will help raise awareness of new developments and enable participants to try out available technologies.  The Living it Up project will also be making a key presentation at this event.

SCTT’s Medical Director Professor George Crooks said: “We are very proud of the progress we have made in Scotland in implementing at-scale telehealth and telecare services.  This has been achieved through a strong strategic commitment from the Scottish Government, NHS Boards, local authorities, third sector and industry partners to delivering on this important agenda.

“We are therefore delighted to be host country for this inaugural European Telemedicine Conference which will showcase best practice in telehealth and telecare from across Europe. We would encourage health, care and housing providers involved in telehealth and telecare in Scotland to get involved in the Scottish Telehealth and Telecare Week to help highlight the excellent work going on that is delivering real benefits to people in this country.”

For further information and to register for the conference and showcase programme, please visit http://telemedicineconference.eu

For more information on the Scottish Telehealth and Telecare Week, visit the SCTT Facebook page www.facebook.com/TelehealthcareScotland or the JIT websitehttp://www.jitscotland.org.uk/news-and-events/newsletters/?id=143.