Integration of a personalized health care model into health systems and policies in Europe

Every day, we read about new scientifi¬c discoveries and technological advancements for health and medicine in the newspapers, such as: “Diabetes gene is found!” However, we don’t see this genome-based knowledge used in health services. Somehow, they don’t complete their journey from the laboratory to the society.

This PhD dissertation deals with the integration of personalized health care applications into health services. It starts with setting the scene by describing health system and its interrelations with ‘public health’, which is presented in light of the 'Health for All' vision. The second part introduces a preventive personalized health care model called Gentest, within the wider context of the ¬field of personalized medicine and health care. This practice model is used as an example in this dissertation to effectively explore the issues related to integration. The third part investigates how this practice model can be integrated into primary care services within European health systems.