Abstract
Several studies report an overall critical judgement to the Portuguese health system by national citizens, who focus not only on the increased costs associated with healthcare, waiting lists for appointments, and waiting times for emergency services, but also on the lack of appropriate tools and means that can help them to make more informed decisions concerning healthcare. This chapter aims to explore and test the potential development of a digital tool capable of offering accurate, updated, and extended information on care providers and services as well as access to care facilities. Overall, this application is perceived as useful in conveying a wider knowledge of healthcare options that may not only foster more informed and rational choices, but also help policymakers to understand the main factors underlying citizens' choices of healthcare providers.
TopCitizens’ participation in health (care) decision making is essential within a democratic state and a constitutional right (Constitution of the Portuguese Republic, 1976). Accordingly, the promotion of more informed and engaged citizens has been a recurrent and transversal concern within the Portuguese society.
Back in 2000s, the Portuguese Observatory of Health Systems (OPSS, 2001) emphasized the role of citizens as contributors and users along with the need to place them at the centre of the system. An important step to achieve this goal was the investment on providing better access to valid and qualified information on health care. Regarded as a fundamental piece of the democratization process, this claim has been widely supported by citizens (e.g., Manifesto for Public Participation [Law no. 108/2019 of 9 September]), also functioning as a benchmark for policy making, as evidenced in the National Strategy for Health Quality 2015-2020 (DGS, 2015) and its focus on the promotion of health education and literacy and the empowering of citizens’ awareness, autonomy and resources.
Key Terms in this Chapter
Heath System: A health system, also sometimes referred to as a healthcare system, is the organization of people, institutions, and resources that deliver health care services to meet the health needs of target populations.
Territorial Cohesion: Formally emerging in the Treaty of Amsterdam (1997), the concept aims to moderate the effects associated with the (tendency to) liberalization of Services of General Interest. More than a decade later, the Lisbon Treaty (2010) positioned territorial cohesion as a new paradigm for the development of European space. Its objective is to promote a balanced development of Europe by valuing territorial diversity and complementarity amongst different territorial contexts. This definition combines the idea of cohesion with the importance of the territorial dimension in decision-making processes.
Health Tourism: This concept covers both wellness tourism and medical tourism, and comprehends those trips aiming to benefit from treatments, therapies or activities that improve and/or maintain health conditions. In this sense, health tourism is a form of tourism that has as a primary motivation the contribution to physical, mental, and spiritual health of individuals through medical and wellness-based activities.
eHealth Literacy: This concept is defined as the ability to search, find, understand, and evaluate health information from electronic sources and apply the knowledge acquired to address or solve a health problem.
Mobile Health: Mobile health (mHealth) is the use of mobile and wireless communication technologies to improve healthcare delivery, outcomes, and research, including the use of SMS and audio functions of mobile phones and services of 3G, 4G, Global Positioning System (GPS) and Bluetooth. mHealth is poised to play a larger role in engaging patients in the health decision-making process.
Accessibility: Accessibility to health care is a fundamental pillar of health policies and consists of the adjustment between the needs of users and the capacity of the health system to meet those needs, focusing on the process of seeking health services.