Sara Riggare

SWEDEN

 

SARA RIGGARE FROM SWEDEN TALKS ABOUT THE POTENTIAL OF NEW MEDIA TOOLS TO MANAGE PARKINSON’S DISEASE

“Twitter is the patient's conference venue”

I am 44 years of age and I have Parkinson’s disease. I have a huge interest in technology and research and am studying health informatics and related digital MedTech advancements.

I am also very interested in the whole area of self-care and self-monitoring.

Apps can help to monitor patient wellbeing, and medication reminders are also very important.

Medication needs to be taken 4-6 times a day, sometimes even more, and can be a rather complicated regimen. Any devices that help patients become ‘medication-savvy’ are crucial. The timing of medication is key, it can make or break your day.

I think Parkinson’s is a great example of a condition where mobile health and e-health could play an important role and companies like Google and Apple are starting to work with patients to move this forward.

The majority of patients are now active online. You can meet people of similar issues, concerns and challenges, without going across the world and without spending time and money doing so.

A different healthcare model, promoting self-care should be developed. Resources should be put in place to allow self-monitoring, self-care and self-management to be feasible for all.