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Chronic heart failure (CHF) is one of the most prevalent cardiovascular diseases globally, affecting millions of people and posing significant challenges for both patients and healthcare systems. As the world’s population ages, the burden of CHF continues to grow, making it essential to develop innovative, patient-centered strategies to enhance quality of life and reduce hospitalizations. 🌍 The Global Burden of Heart Failure According to the World Health Organization (WHO), CHF has been the leading cause of death worldwide for the past 20 years. The statistics are staggering: These numbers highlight the urgent need for improved management and preventive strategies to address the growing impact of CHF on individuals, families, and healthcare systems worldwide. 🧓 The Daily Struggles of CHF Patients Living with congestive heart failure is not just about managing a medical condition—it’s about navigating a complex and unpredictable reality. CHF patients frequently experience episodes of decompensation, which can lead to: ✔️ Repeated hospital admissions and emergency visits.✔️ Increased physical and emotional distress.✔️ A decline in overall quality of life. To effectively manage CHF, it is crucial that patients receive adequate education and support to improve their self-care abilities. When empowered with the right knowledge and skills, they can take proactive steps to monitor their health, recognize warning signs, and adopt behaviors that enhance their well-being. 🎓 The Power of Self-Care: Lessons from Past Programs Over the past decade, several educational and cognitive-behavioral self-care programs have been introduced to help CHF patients take control of their health. These initiatives have led to remarkable improvements, including: ✔️ Reduced hospitalizations and readmissions.✔️ Enhanced quality of life through better disease management.✔️ Greater patient engagement and adherence to treatment plans. However, while these programs have shown short-term success, their long-term effectiveness has been limited—largely due to insufficient family involvement. Without a strong support system, many patients struggle to maintain positive self-care habits over time. 💊 The Three Pillars of Self-Care in CHF Self-care is a crucial component of non-pharmacological treatment for heart failure and consists of three essential aspects: 1️⃣ Maintenance – Following daily habits that promote heart health, such as a balanced diet, physical activity, and medication adherence.2️⃣ Monitoring – Keeping track of symptoms, recognizing warning signs, and making timely adjustments to lifestyle and treatment.3️⃣ Management – Responding effectively to worsening symptoms and knowing when to seek medical attention. The coordination between different healthcare specialties is vital to optimize the follow-up and prognosis of heart failure patients. A multidisciplinary approach—involving cardiologists, primary care physicians, nurses, and patient support networks—ensures a more holistic and sustainable care model. 🏥 SHIELD’s Commitment: Innovation, Collaboration, and Patient Empowerment Aligned with SHIELD’s mission to improve patient safety and quality of life through innovation, we recognize the importance of promoting self-management and expert collaboration. By integrating advanced digital health solutions, AI-driven insights, and patient education, we aim to: 🔹 Enhance patient engagement through personalized, technology-driven self-care programs.🔹 Foster stronger family and caregiver involvement to provide long-term support.🔹 Improve multidisciplinary coordination among healthcare professionals for more effective heart failure management. Heart failure is a complex challenge, but with the right combination of innovation, collaboration, and education, we can create a positive impact on the lives of CHF patients worldwide.

The first quarter of the SHIELD project has been marked by collaboration, innovation, and strategic planning. Our consortium has been working diligently to lay the foundation for a new era in preventive healthcare, focusing on cutting-edge data management, artificial intelligence, and ethical implementation. We are excited to share some of the key milestones we have reached so far and what lies ahead in our journey towards personalized, data-driven prevention. 🔹 Building a Strong Communication and Engagement Strategy From the outset, we have recognized that effective communication and stakeholder engagement are crucial for the success of SHIELD. That’s why we have developed a comprehensive communication and dissemination plan to ensure that our work resonates with the right audiences: By fostering dialogue across these key groups, we are ensuring that SHIELD remains a co-designed, user-centered initiative that delivers real-world impact. 🔹 Ethics and Legal Compliance: A Cornerstone of SHIELD Ensuring transparency, security, and compliance has been a top priority from day one. As AI and data management become integral to healthcare, we are committed to upholding the highest ethical and legal standards. By integrating these principles into our core strategy, we are reinforcing trust and ensuring that SHIELD’s solutions are safe, reliable, and effective for all users. 🔜 The Road Ahead: From Concept to Prototype With these critical foundations in place, we are now transitioning into the next phase of development. Our primary focus for the coming months includes: ✔️ Developing initial prototypes for data management and artificial intelligence systems that will drive preventive healthcare solutions.✔️ Preparing for our first clinical tests, where we will evaluate the real-world effectiveness of our AI-driven models.✔️ Strengthening our collaborations with healthcare institutions, research centers, and technology partners to accelerate innovation. 💡 A Glimpse into the Future of Preventive Healthcare As we move forward, SHIELD remains committed to driving groundbreaking research and real-world applications that will revolutionize how we approach prevention in healthcare. 🔍 Over the next months, we will be launching pilot studies, testing AI-powered prevention strategies, and expanding our network of partners to create a lasting impact. 👉 Join us on this journey! Stay tuned for more updates as we continue shaping the future of personalized, data-driven preventive healthcare.

As we wrap up the first quarter of SHIELD, we are thrilled to share the progress we have made so far. Our consortium has been working diligently to lay the groundwork for a transformative approach to preventive healthcare, and we have already achieved several key milestones. 🔹 Strategic Communication & Engagement One of our initial priorities has been to establish a robust communication and dissemination plan that ensures active engagement with our key stakeholders: By creating targeted communication strategies, we aim to keep all stakeholders informed, involved, and empowered as SHIELD evolves. 🔹 Ethical and Legal Foundations Transparency, trust, and security are non-negotiable pillars of SHIELD. That’s why we have worked meticulously to prepare the necessary ethical and legal documentation from the very beginning. 🔜 What’s Next? With a solid foundation in place, we are now moving into the development phase:✔️ Initial prototypes for data management and artificial intelligence are underway. These innovations will enable smarter, more personalized preventive healthcare solutions.✔️ We are preparing for our first clinical tests, where our AI-driven tools will be evaluated in real-world healthcare settings.✔️ Our focus remains on co-design and collaboration, ensuring that all stakeholders actively contribute to shaping SHIELD’s future. 💡 Looking Ahead SHIELD is more than just a project—it’s a collaborative effort to redefine prevention in healthcare. We are excited about the next steps, including our pilot studies and groundbreaking research that will help shape the future of personalized and data-driven preventive healthcare. 🔍 Stay tuned for updates as we continue to push the boundaries of innovation and drive meaningful impact!

The SHIELD Project continues to progress, with a strong focus on developing a comprehensive patient questionnaire that will provide crucial insights for personalized prevention strategies in diabetes and cardiovascular disease (CVD). 🌍 What’s Happening Now?🔹 Finalizing the patient questionnaire, ensuring it captures key behavioral and clinical insights.🔹 Planning questionnaire implementation, assessing the best approach for multilingual deployment.🔹 Preparing for patient recruitment with the goal of distributing the questionnaire as soon as possible By collaborating with clinical partners and behavioral experts, SHIELD is ensuring that this questionnaire is scientifically robust, ethically sound, and patient-centered. 💡 Stay tuned as we take the next steps toward data collection and real-world impact!

SHIELD: Driving Innovation in Personalized Prevention for CVD & Diabetes Following our exciting launch, the SHIELD Project is now in full motion, taking significant steps to revolutionize personalized prevention for cardiovascular disease (CVD) and diabetes. Our consortium is actively shaping the technical and clinical frameworks, pushing beyond conventional strategies to tackle key barriers in precision medicine with cutting-edge solutions. 🔹 Key Focus Areas:✅ Data Standardization – Implementing a unified Common Data Model (CDM) to ensure interoperability, transparency, and security, enabling seamless data exchange across healthcare systems.✅ Comprehensive Risk Assessment – Leveraging AI-driven insights, real-time monitoring, and behavioral science to refine risk stratification and interventions.✅ Multidisciplinary Collaboration – Engaging healthcare professionals, researchers, policymakers, and patients to develop ethical, impactful, and scalable prevention strategies. With leading healthcare, AI, and public health experts working together, SHIELD is paving the way for AI-powered, patient-centered prevention. Our holistic and dynamic approach integrates multimodal data and behavioral motivation models, setting new standards in digital health innovation. 💡 Stay tuned as we advance toward pilot studies and groundbreaking research that will shape the future of preventive healthcare!

On the 10th and 11th of December, the @SHIELD project officially began with a Kick-Off Meeting held at the @HI-Iberia headquarters in Madrid.Over these two days, the consortium came together to discuss key aspects of the project, including the definition of clinical trials and scenarios, as well as initial steps for management, dissemination, ethics oversight, and more.The meeting was incredibly productive and set the tone for the exciting work ahead. To top it off, we embraced the festive spirit of the season with a delightful night walk under Madrid’s sparkling Christmas lights.A huge thank you to the entire SHIELD consortium for such engaging discussions and collaboration. We’re looking forward to working together over the next four years on this challenging and impactful project!

Strategic Health Initiatives for Effective Disease Prevention (SHIELD) launches to transform non-communicable disease prevention in Europe The groundbreaking SHIELD project, a four-year initiative funded by the European Union’s Horizon Europe program, officially commenced on December 1, 2024. With an ambitious mission to revolutionize personalized prevention strategies for cardiovascular disease (CVD) and diabetes, SHIELD aims to significantly reduce the global burden of non-communicable diseases (NCDs). Harnessing Technology for Personalized PreventionSHIELD integrates multimodal data collection and Artificial Intelligence (AI) to develop risk stratification tools, personalized care plans, and behavior-change interventions. The project focuses on secondary and tertiary prevention, empowering patients with early-diagnosed conditions to manage their health effectively. Additionally, insights derived from SHIELD will inform policies with population-wide health impacts. Key Objectives A Global Effort SHIELD unites eight partners from four countries, including leading universities, healthcare providers, and private sector innovators. With a total funding of €6.5M (plus contributions from Switzerland), SHIELD represents a significant leap forward in collaborative healthcare innovation. Clinical Pilots Across Europe Transformative Vision SHIELD’s vision aligns with European Union and WHO initiatives on NCDs, leveraging innovative technologies to advance healthcare delivery and patient empowerment. The project is poised to become a benchmark for collaborative health innovation at the intersection of technology, behavioral science, and medicine. About the Consortium Coordinated by HI-IBERIA and involving 8 organizations from 4 different countries: SERMAS (La Paz Hospital), Polytechnic University of Madrid, Université de Genève, Hospital Policlinico di Bari, Qualive, Consorzio per la ricerca nell’automatica e nelle telecomunicazioni CRAT and  University of Limerick. SHIELD’s multidisciplinary approach ensures robust impact across technical, clinical, and policy domains. Contact Information For further details about SHIELD:Inmaculada LuengoProject Coordinator @ HI-IBERIA Acknowledgment This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon Europe research and innovation program under grant agreement Nº 101156751. The content reflects the authors’ views only and the European Union is not liable for any use of the information contained herein. Follow SHIELD Stay updated with SHIELD’s latest developments on https://horizon-shield.eu/ (in progress).