Southern Institute for Health Informatics

2009 Annual Conference

Friday 18th September 2009, Richmond Building, University of Portsmouth

After nine tremendously successful SIHI conferences, we are holding this year's
event in Portsmouth on Friday 18th September and we would like to invite you to
participate.

The theme for the conference is how information and communication technologies
(ICT) can provide innovative ways to engage patients in their health and social
care.

Increasingly, patients are taking a more and more active role in their care.
This includes:
- choosing their healthcare provider
- monitoring their existing conditions
- self-diagnosis of new conditions
- using over-the-counter medicines
- making lifestyle changes to improve their health
- purchasing equipment to facilitate their lifestyle
- referring themselves to expert services

Support mechanisms need to be in place for this sort of thing to happen safely
include:

- access to comprehensive and quality-assured information (online and via
different healthcare providers, such as pharmacies)
- access to pathways to follow when their self-care doesn't achieve its desired
goal (and pathways that don't necessarily end up in the GP's surgery or at A&E)

The conference will consist of a number of keynote speakers and other oral
presentations. In addition, the "Infomart", an informal information marketplace
area, will allow vendors and researchers to set out a stall to meet people and
exchange information.

If you would be interested in attending or participating in any way, please
email us at SIHI@..., write to us at the address below or telephone us on
023 9284 6445. Proposals for presentations should be accompanied by a 100-150
word outline, and will be considered up until the time when the programme is
finalised.

More details can be found on the conference website:
http://www.chmi.port.ac.uk/sihi/sihi2009/

Please forward this message on to colleagues who may not have seen it. Apologies
if you receive multiple copies of it.

Dr Jim Briggs
Conference Chairman

The Conference is supported by:
The South East Health Technologies Alliance (www.sehta.co.uk)