Proximity for Health: the caring dimension of healthcare combines with technological innovation, prevention and promotion to improve the quality of life in internal areas of the province of Lucca. Proximity Care project presented

Proximity Care is the multi-year project proposed by the Sant'Anna School, with the support of Fondazione Cassa di Risparmio di Lucca, involving the Regione Toscana, Asl Toscana Nord Ovest, the 23 municipalities of the internal areas of the province of Lucca and third sector institutions. Participating as technical partners are the Fondazione Monasterio, the Maria Eletta Martini Research Center of Lucca, and ISPRO (Istituto Prevenzione e Ricerca Oncologica) of Florence.

The project was anticipated by the development of a feasibility study aimed at monitoring needs, mapping services and the state of connectivity. The specific operational activities underway in this its first year and the next objectives were presented on Friday, April 14, during an event at the Municipal Theater of Castelnuovo di Garfagnana (Lucca) in the presence of Marcello Bertocchini, President of Fondazione Cassa di Risparmio di Lucca; Sabina Nuti, Scientific Project Manager and Rector of the Sant'Anna School; Maria Letizia Casani, General Director of Asl Toscana Nord Ovest; and Simone Bezzini, Tuscan Regional Councillor for the Right to Health and Healthcare. In the audience were many mayors of the 23 municipalities of Garfagnana, Media Valle and Alta Versilia involved in Proximity Care on whose behalf Andrea Tagliasacchi, mayor of the 'host' municipality, brought greetings. Numerous then the representatives of the institutional world, associations, volunteers, operators of services in the area.

The project: areas and actors involved

Proximity Care is divided into 11 subprojects and intends to promote the health of the population by integrating the caring dimension of care with technological innovation, prevention and promotion, through the direct engagement and involvement of those who live and work in the inland areas of the province of Lucca, in connection with centers of care and research excellence, such as the Sant'Anna School and the Fondazione Monasterio.

The areas of intervention concern the health and well-being of adolescents, home management of chronic diseases - such as diabetes and heart disease - through advanced forms of monitoring and telemedicine, technological support of emergency services, ongoing training of health workers, support for family members caring for their loved ones, interventions for people with disabilities, and the introduction of innovative tools for evaluating and planning social and health policies and personal services.

From the internal areas of the province of Lucca, Proximity Care can become a pilot action to innovate the health care systems of the Tuscan and national internal areas and make them more responsive to the needs of the population living here. Proximity and closeness to people are the key to "reading" the whole project, which aims at the direct involvement of the population, health professionals, local institutions and social organizations.

The project develops innovation on the clinical, organizational and technological levels, engaging a scientific community of more than 70 people, including researchers, researchers and technicians belonging to the interdisciplinary Health Science Center of the Sant'Anna School, with a wide range of skills (from health management to medicine, from robotics to computer science, passing through law) under the scientific responsibility of Sabina Nuti, Rector of the Sant'Anna School.

On the cover: (from left) Marcello Bertocchini, Maria Letizia Casani, Andrea Tagliasacchi, Simone Bezzini, Sabina Nuti.