More than 350 researchers, policy makers and care professionals from 30 countries attended. They presented and discussed the development, the implementation and the use of the interRAI instruments in different care sectors.
Brant Fries, President of interRAI, made the opening remarks, together with the organisers. Subsequently, Wouter Beke, Flemish Minister for Welfare, Public Health, the Family and Poverty Reduction, in his talk stressed the importance of interRAI and BelRAI for the Flemish Social Protection.

The participants had a choice between 35 parallel sessions and 15 symposia over the course of three days. During lunch, over 40 posters were on display. We learned about new instruments, new applications, about implementation in different countries and continents and about how the interRAI output is used in practice.

Each day started and ended with a plenary session. David O’Toole, CEO of the Canadian Institute for Health Information informed us of the possibilities longitudinal interRAI data offer for strategic care policies at the local, country and international levels. Len Gray and John Hirdes presented the possibilities the interRAI instruments offer for acute and mental health care respectively. Lynn Martin and Chantal Van Audenhove talked about the relationship between interRAI and person-centered care.

In between sessions, during the lunches, the opening reception and the conference dinner, people got to know each other and new collaborations originated. Moreover, Brant Fries officially presented the interRAI Contract signed by himself and by Federal Minister of Public Health Maggie De Block to Jo De Cock of the National Institute for Health and Disability Insurance and Pedro Facon of the Federal Public Service Health, Food Chain Safety and Environment.

ABOUT NOBLITO
Noblito wants to set up networks around vulnerable elderly people in an innovative and innovative way. Reminding people to contact our elderly once in a while. ​

 In 2013 the over 65s already made up 18.2% of the European population (18.6% in Belgium), and these figures are set to rise to a staggering 28.7% by 2080. It will be key to empower older people to take charge of their own health and wellbeing and make sure that they can stay longer in their own homes. PRoF joined forces with partners from Flanders, the UK, the Netherlands and France to create strong communities, surrounding older people with the care they need.  
 
The Interreg 2 Seas project EMPOWERCARE combines partners with expertise in health technology, social cohesion solutions & integrated workforce approaches, and local organisations with access to the target population (65+ and 50+ with at least one chronic condition). All these partners have one goal in common: empowering both individuals and communities to manage their own care and tackle isolation and loneliness.
 
EMPOWERCARE will go in search of a medical model that is not deficit. Instead, the project partners will focus on using technology and local services to keep older people active, healthy and motivated.
The project partners will detect and tackle current gaps in the care system and build learning networks, enabling both professionals and families to share expertise and best practices.
 
By harnessing skills and expertise of local people and by co-creating innovations, EMPOWERCARE will have a lasting impact and make a real difference in individual lives and communities. The PRoF consortium is happy to be part of this project, since EMPOWERCARE is fully in line with the PRoF approach of joining forces across sectors and industries to create visions for the future.
 
 
Project duration: January 1, 2020 – September 30, 2022
Lead partner: The Health and Europe Centre (UK)
Partners: PRoF (BOONE), Familiehulp, Zorggroep H. Hart, Province of Antwerp, Wieltjesgracht, VITO,  Kent County Council (UK), , University of Brighton (UK), Canterbury Christ Church University (UK), Solidarity University (NL), Samenwerkingsverband Welzijnszorg Oosterschelderegio (NL), Conseil Départemental du Nord (F)
Empowered by Interreg 2 Seas

In December 2019 The PRoF consortium celebrated its 10th anniversary. Although there was some
looking back on the past, the celebration was first and foremost about the future. The success formula still shows no signs of wear and tear whatsoever. And although there are no secret ingredients, to this day the PRoF consortium is still very much one of a kind in the health care innovation industry.
 
Herman Van Rompuy, former President of the European Council and chairman of the PRoF TomorrowLab Advisory Board, neatly summarizes the ingredients of the PRoF success formula: “The PRoF consortium brings together people from the business community, the health care industry, the academic world and end users. They do so on both a national and a European level, which makes PRoF doubly unique. But what I appreciate most is that PRoF puts values first, in this case, the care and support for the elderly. And they pool those classic values with today’s most innovative technologies, which makes for a very beautiful combination.”
 
That combination goes far beyond generating innovative ideas. As Jan Van Hecke, chairman of PRoF, emphasizes: “We don't just think about new solutions, we build them. At Boone, a furniture factory in Poperinge, you can actually visit the 5 projects we built in the past, and we’re working hard to finish the 6th Patient Room of the Future, which will be launched in 2020.”
 
So, there are definitely no signs of slowing down. PRoF is ready for another 10 years of inspiring, stimulating and transforming the health care industry by using some very basic principles: bringing people together across sectors and industries and putting the patient first, always.

Experience the atmosphere in this video made by Kanaal Z (in Dutch)

​The PRoF Chair was created to support academic research in healthcare as leverage for industry-academia partnerships in a spirit of open innovation and value creation. Ghent University was the first holder of the PRoF Chair. In 3 years’ time they helped realize several innovative health care projects. For the period of 2019-2021 the Chair was awarded to KU Leuven. New holder of the Chair, Chantal Van Audenhove, is definitely up for the challenge.
 
Chantal Van Audenhove has been director of LUCAS at KU Leuven since 1996. LUCAS is an interdisciplinary research centre, focusing on 5 topics: social trends in care, care for the elderly, mental healthcare, communication in care relationships and welfare, poverty and social exclusion. The collaboration with the PRoF consortium will definitely give a boost to their research: “Thanks to the PRoF Chair we will be able to further focus on implementation research, helping us to understand what, why and how innovations in the real world work.”
 
Jan Van Hecke, chairman of PRoF, is a strong believer of implementation research, a relatively new field of study focusing on implementation processes and strategies. He too is looking forward to a fruitful cooperation between the Chair and the PRoF partners: “Nowadays, ‘return on investment’ and ‘value for money’ equally apply to social services as well. Society rightly expects that the outcomes of often expensive research programmes can be put to use in everyday practice, in an effective and preferably a cost-effective way, too. Implementation research can help academia to live up to these expectations.”
 
Follow our blog to keep track of the results of the PRoF Chair.

Pregnancies come with both joyful anticipation and a whole range of worries: Is the mother eating and relaxing enough? Is the baby developing properly? But what we tend to completely overlook, is the fact that one in five women develop mental health problems during pregnancy. The PRoF consortium awarded a project initiated by Ghent University to detect and treat mental problems as part of routine prenatal care.


Every year, PRoF awards innovative projects in the health care sector that are a perfect match with the PRoF mission: bringing together interdisciplinary professionals (care, medical, companies, universities, etc.) to envision and create new health care concepts. No wonder then, that the “toolkit for perinatal mental health” received the PRoF award.
 
This toolkit is a co-creation of Ghent University, the Karus Mother & Baby Centre, the community health centres in Ghent, Maternity Care East Flanders, the Department of Neonatology of the Ghent University Hospital, and the Mother & Baby Unit of the Zoersel hospital. The partners shared knowledge and expertise and together, they created a practical solution to help women with mental health problems during pregnancy.
 
As many as one in five women develop these problems, but detection often comes too late. The toolkit offers a range of practical tools and training programs that can be easily implemented within routine prenatal care. The toolkit helps doctors and midwives to better detect mental problems, so that they can intervene and start treatment more quickly. The PRoF consortium was delighted to hand out the 2018 PRoF Award to this project, praising its positive impact on both mother and baby.

The PRoF UGent chair Award symposium, organised by the Chair holder prof. dr. R. Peleman, took place at the Pand in Gent on May 25. Out of all candidates that sent in an application, three were nominated to presented their innovation for the 200 visitors and the Jury. After careful consideration, the ladies of INGA Wellbeing were selected as winner 2016 and received 10.000EUR to help their venture succeed. The concept of INGA wellbeing is creating beautiful and non-stigmatic clothing for patients requiring medical care. To make a point, the presenters wore their clothes and none of the audience perceived them as care-clothing until they demonstrated where the adaptations for medical equipment could be found. 

If you missed it or want to relive the experience: here are the presentations and pictures of the event.

Op 25 mei 2016 werd aan de UGent de tweede PRoF Award uitgereikt voor het beste Europese zorgidee aan het project INGA Wellbeing. Deze prijs is goed voor 10.000 euro. Prof. Renaat Peleman is titularis van de ProF-leerstoel die in 2014 werd ingesteld door de zorgdenktank PRoF, Patient Room of the Future. Het doel: innovatieve doorbraken in de gezondheidszorg stimuleren en zo het aanbod van kwaliteitsvolle zorg verruimen.

INGA Wellbeing is een project dat aangepaste kledij ontwerpt voor zorgpatiënten, bijvoorbeeld kleedjes met discrete openingen voor drains of truien waarvan de panden gemakkelijk kunnen worden verwijderd voor een medisch onderzoek. Zo kunnen patiënten behandelingen ondergaan of een onderzoek laten uitvoeren zonder zich geheel of gedeeltelijk te moeten ontkleden.

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