We must focus on people as the driving force of transformation in the digital age. The path to merging and integrating people, technology and processes must be guided by leaders at all levels: government, academia, universities, hospitals, care centers and patient social organizations.

In the case of the community of patients with chronic, prevalent or rare diseases, constant training is required by health professionals and those around the affected person. In this process of digital transformation, a fundamental figure emerges: The Coach as a leader on the path to digital health.

While digital telehealth solutions allow us to communicate with patients, it is necessary to have professionals specifically trained to accompany the patient and their family members or caregivers in these new forms of monitoring and care.

In this new social and health scenario, the focus must also be on new skills and the ability to learn and adapt, taking into account aspects related to emotional intelligence.

In fact, it has been proven that excellence depends more on emotional skills than on cognitive abilities. Even in technical and scientific professions, analytical thinking ranks third, after the ability to influence others and the motivation to achieve.

What are the keys to adapting to the digital environment?

1. Support in change managementNew technologies generate new opportunities and require new professional profiles. It is necessary to invest in talent and training, and to support people in the process of updating and adapting their positions and roles. The great challenge is not technology, but the management of change in people, and this process must be gradual.

2. Transparency, active listening and giving a voice to each person we connect with, is key in this process. We must create collaborative work and communication environments that encourage freedom of expression, with horizontal, accessible organizational structures that allow for the sharing of experiences, in which everyone is responsible for doing what is necessary to achieve the common goal. Communication must be bidirectional and constant. If we do not take these aspects into account, we run the risk of our teams not supporting us and we generate feelings of frustration in them.

3. Create a common project, with a clear vision shared by all team members is another fundamental milestone to shorten this process. We all need to feel integrated, forming part of the organization. Each one of us must know the impact and contribution that our work has on the business project. When team members share the vision, they manage to work in a synchronized way, becoming high-performance and highly committed teams.

We live in one paradox:We have the technology we dreamed of years ago, and yet the way we work and evaluate results has hardly changed.

"We must continue to learn. If we don't, and stick to our core business, changes will happen without us, our knowledge will quickly become outdated, and we will be in danger of extinction.". Jeff Bezos 

Coaching in chronic respiratory diseases

Lovexair Foundation has developed the course for Respiratory Coaches HappyAir “Digital Health Training” (digital health coach) to acquire the necessary skills to support patient communities and their environment. This training is free and open to the community of professionals committed to lung and respiratory health.

For more information on Coach as a leader in digital health or other issues: training@lovexair.com or phone +34 91 822 78 74.

We would like to thank Migdalia Denis for her collaboration.

Lovexair is dedicating this space to leaders and experts in respiratory health and digital health who wish to share their proposals and experiences to contribute to improving the quality of life of patients and their families and strengthening healthcare professionals.

If you would like to submit an article, please write to us at communication@lovexair.com