Powered by COMFORTage
Two new approaches can be demonstrated: people-oriented early action prevention and a circular approach to implementation, evidence, and partnerships.
First, on 15 May 2026, Health Management published an article co-authored by EHTEL digital health facilitator, Luc Nicolas, and colleagues from the University of Manchester. Entitled “Putting Prevention in People’s Hands: Rethinking Healthcare through Early Action”, the article is based on the work of two projects, COMFORTage and iHelp.
Want to understand the article’s highlights?
Lifestyle interventions are central to addressing noncommunicable diseases and sustaining healthcare systems. Hence, the article starts from the World Health Organization’s 2025 position on the global importance of investing in the fight against noncommunicable diseases and how to scale-up interventions based on proven solutions.
Despite investment, healthcare outcomes can vary due to differences in funding, participation, and behaviour. Having services available does not necessarily ensure uptake.
Alongside the availability of digital tools and artificial intelligence (AI)-supported screening, personalised metrics, like the measurement of biological age, can enhance people’s engagement in improving their own health and preventing ill health. When data-driven, tailored interventions are made early, they can support a shift towards more proactive care and reduce the burden of disease.
Thus, the article focuses on the reframing of prevention as a shared responsibility, supported by both technologies and behavioural insights. It draws on the advances in personalised data, AI, and digital twins being investigated by COMFORTage – what the project calls the COMFORTage digital patient journey.
Source: The COMFORTage project. Reproduced from Health Management 26(3), 15 May 2026
From iHelp, which conducted pilots in community settings, came evidence of the communicative power of personalised biomarkers. The project looked at putting prevention in everybody’s hands. Focusing over the course of a year on cancers, and the wearing of body-based monitors by older adults, the pilot showed that personalised biomarker feedback, combined with lifestyle information, represents a promising approach for the promotion of healthy ageing behaviours.
As quotes from the article show: “Investing in massive prevention is not only possible – it is imperative … In a context of ageing populations and rising chronic disease costs, prevention is no longer simply upstream – it becomes foundational.”
Want to know more about COMFORTage and its achievements?
COMFORTage is a four-year project funded through the European Union´s Health Programme, involving 39 organisations from 12 countries. It involves 13 pilots. Currently, EHTEL is especially involved in exploring the business model and exploitation possibilities of the project.
One of EHTEL’s latest initiatives has been a focus on the collection of evidence to advance progress on the use of artificial intelligence (AI) and medical devices.
Second, therefore, on 26 May 2026, therefore, EHTEL organised an open online workshop with the support of COMFORTage. It formed part of COMFORTage’s community forum, called CCF. The chief theme of this first forum is on service delivery models for patients and carers in the fields of dementia and frailty. The workshop was entitled, “Evidence and innovative digital health services – a square in a circle.” A video and associated report will soon be publicly available.
A new circular approach
Today’s innovators are faced with the challenge of collecting evidence to demonstrate the safety, efficacy, and cost-efficiency of their developments – a very linear model. To produce evidence can be time- and resource-intensive because of the wide-scale testing involved. The delays involved may even prohibit some products from getting onto the market in a timely way.
The 26 May 2026 online workshop (webinar) demonstrated that the linear model of digital health development is now obsolete. No more innovation -> evidence -> implementation!
The future lies in knowing that:
- Implementation generates evidence.
- Evidence informs further innovation.
- Partnerships enable ecosystem collaboration (on implementation and evidence).
Three circular, iterative pathways will be helpful: they consist of community-first development, a tiered validation pipeline, and policy-led adoption.
In the future, it is predicted that successful implementations will combine all three pathways. Evidence and implementation will reinforce each other when applied in robust ecosystems!
For more information
Health Management is a regular journal/magazine for health professionals published by MindByte Communications Ltd., Cyprus. Its latest issue on Connected Digital Health Systems was launched on 15 May 2026.
