Roles and Empowerment of Women in eHealth and Telemedicine

Special Women and eHealth (WeHealth) Session at Med-e-Tel 2013


Background

The participation of women in eHealth and Telemedicine is the focus of a study, since August 2010, undertaken by the Millennia2015 Women and eHealth (WeHealth) International Working Group chaired by Dr. Veronique Thouvenot. Its goal is to investigate how women get access to, and use, ICT for health. It aims to give a voice to local communities and silent populations living in difficult conditions. A network of 410 volunteers from 61 countries actively collects information, ideas, wishes, photos and videos illustrating the theme of women's access and use of ICT for health in their local communities. WeHealth covers three main areas: Women, Health and Technologies.


Women considered are of all ages, with a particular attention to those living in low income settings, urban slums and rural communities. Health is taken in its broad dimension, including healthcare, humanitarian emergencies, health prevention, promotion and education, at community, regional, national and international levels. ICTs and technologies cover local radios, television, mobile phones, internet, satellite communications, social media. The data was collected from September 2010 to October 2011, and the preliminary results of the study were presented at the Millennia2015 Seminar in November 2011, Paris, France (click here for details).

The qualitative analysis of the data permitted to distinguish four dimensions in the places and roles played by women within the arena of eHealth and Telemedicine:

  • Firstly, women appear to be mainly involved as beneficiaries of eHealth and telemedicine services. They are mothers of young children, adolescents sharing health information through social medias such as twitter, blogs or Facebook, pregnant women benefiting of distant medical advice with the support of tele-imagery services.
  • Second dimension, women are also actively involved as health professionals, doctors, nurses, midwifes, community health workers (CHWs), using the impressive capacity of mobile phones to connect with isolated communities and manage urgent situations.
  • Third dimension, is the area of the Information and Telecommunication Technologies (ICTs) and telecom engineering sector, where women graduate as technician and engineers. They contribute to the design of software and hardware in the industry.
  • And finally, women are implicated at high level, as politicians, parliamentarians, university teachers, CEOs, heads of NGOs and advocate endlessly for women's inclusion in eHealth and telemedicine at all levels.

The programme of the Women and eHealth session is organized along those lines in order to further explore and share with the participants the preliminary results of the WeHealth study and shape the Global Mapping of Women and eHealth.

Preliminary Program

The objective of the Women and eHealth session is to highlight the crucial role of women in eHealth and Telemedicine and their unrecognized capacity as builders of alternative futures, based on characteristics such as an innate future orientation, capacity to mediate and to network at all levels, capacity to be social actors, to face natural catastrophes and human conflicts by creating solidarity among women. Based on the results of the WeHealth study, the session will cover various perspectives of women in eHealth and Telemedicine, with a focus on their place and roles in this arena.

The session will consist of a series of discussion panels, in order to design a global mapping of the roles and places of women within the arena of eHealth and Telemedicine. At the end of the session, a ceremony will formally launch the ISfTeH Working Group on Women (WoW) and participants will be invited to continue the dialogue during an open cocktail.

Wednesday 10 April 2013 - 14:00-17:30

    Introduction and Opening Remarks
    WeHealth Study 2010-2012: Results and Key Findings

    Dr. Veronique Thouvenot, Head, Women and eHealth Working Group at Millennia2015, France
    Dr. Kristie Holmes, Associate Professor of Social Work, Union University, USA

    Presentation of the WeObservatory:
    Sylvie Coumel, Stakeholder & Advocacy Project Director, Sanofi, France

    Video "Universal Women":
    Dr. Jordi Serrano Pons, CEO, UniversalDoctor, Spain

    Welcome Address - Women in eHealth and Telemedicine in Panama
    Dr. Arletty Pinel, CEO, Genos Global, Panama (Moderator of the WeHealth Session)

    Panel 1: Women as Beneficiaries and Healthcare Providers

      Panelists:
      Dr. Line Kleinebreil, President, Université Numérique Mondiale Francophone (UNFM), France
      Dr. Claudia Bartz, Coordinator, Telenursing Network, International Council of Nurses (ICN), USA
      Dr. Tsedmaa Baatar, Telemedicine Project Manager, United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), Mongolia

      Q&A Session

    Coffee break

    Panel 2: Women as ICT Developers and Leaders

      Panelists:
      Lenka Lhotska, University Teacher, Czech Technical University, Czech Republic
      Anna E. Schmaus-Klughammer, CEO, Klughammer GmbH, Germany
      Dr. Coumba Toure, Head, Advanced Development for Africa (ADA), Mali
      Argentina P. Matavel Piccin, Representative, United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), Mongolia

      Q&A Session

    Conclusion and Closing Remarks

      The way forward: from the results of the WeHealth study 2010 – 2012, to Action Plans and Priorities by 2015:
      • Inclusion of gender considerations in eHealth policies
      • Expansion of education in eHealth and Telemedicine for women
      • WeHealth Study 2013 – 2015: Research and development of tools to measure the impact of women in eHealth and Telemedicine

      Speakers:
      Prof. Yunkap Kwankam, Executive Director, International Society for Telemedicine & eHealth (ISfTeH), Switzerland
      Dr. Veronique Thouvenot, Head, Women and eHealth WG Millennia2015, France

    Official Launch of the ISfTeH Working Group on Women (WoW) followed by WoW Cocktail (18:00-20:00)

Registration

Click here to register for the Med-e-Tel conference (incl. access to the Women and eHealth track).

Venue

Luxexpo
10 circuit de la Foire Internationale
1347 Luxembourg
Luxembourg
Click here for a local area map.

Hotel/Travel

For hotel information and reservation, click here.
For special air travel deals (via Air France/KLM), click here.

Questions and expressions of interest to participate are welcome at:

Veronique Thouvenot:
Anna E. Schmaus-Klughammer:
Lenka Lhotska:
Med-e-Tel secretariat:

Organized by:
 

 

 
 
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