The Primary Care research group of the Biodonostia Institute participates in the network in three work packages with the mission of characterizing chronicity, frailty and multimorbidity in primary care and the development of new methodologies for health services research.

Chronic diseases are the main causes of mortality in Europe and Spain. Moreover, they require complex, integrated, and coordinated long-term health care, involving different health professionals, resources (drugs, diagnostic tests, surgery, rehabilitation, nursing care) and, sometimes, the coordination with social services. According to the World Health Organisation (WHO) and other organisations such as the Canadian Task Force, the US Preventive Services Task Force, PAPPS in Spain, and many scientific societies, most of these diseases can be prevented by implementing health promotion and disease prevention strategies, that allow patients to maintain their quality of life at acceptable levels, as well as optimize the use of health resources. To this end, knowledge about the best strategies to provide a solution must be improved, and the real application of the knowledge generated by research in daily practice must be catalysed.

Primary care is the most frequent and accessible contact point for the population. This service is also responsible for the care and follow-up of patients with chronic diseases. Therefore, implementing strategies and protocols with an integrated, longitudinal and person-centred approach are necessary to ensure the sustainability of the systems.

To provide a response to this challenge, the Research Network on Chronicity, Primary Care and Health Promotion (RICAPPS) has been created. This network is funded by the RICORS sub-programme (Research Networks oriented towards Health Results), within the Strategic Action in Health 2021 of The Institute of Health Carlos III (ISCIII).

The main objective of RICAPPS is to promote network research at national level oriented towards health outcomes in primary care, chronicity and health promotion. The aim is to transfer the results to clinical practice and health service organisations, and thus ensure the improvement of health care for the population. This purpose is aligned with the objectives of the Health, Demographic Change and Well-being Challenge of the Spanish Strategy for Science, Technology and Innovation, and Horizon Europe of the European Union.

The network is made up of 26 research groups and 9 associated clinical groups, located in 12 Spanish regions. Its scientific programme, with a holistic approach, is structured in five objectives that include fourteen work packages (WP). One of the priorities of the network is to promote collaborative work, knowledge transfer and the possibility of sharing experience, resources, and information between research groups. To this end, the groups will include the collaboration of professionals and specialists in primary care, prevention, public health, epidemiology, mathematics, statistics, economic evaluation, pharmacology, psychology, sociology, anthropology, and other specialities. The goal is to ensure a high-quality methodological approach, adapted to the context of primary care and adjusted to the dynamic challenges and developments that are emerging in the health systems. This approach is focus to provide more comprehensive care including health promotion, prevention, diagnosis and treatment, and specialised care for chronic diseases.

The Biodonostia Institute participates in three work packages of this new network; specifically, work packages 6, 7 and 14. The first two work packages (6 and 7) are within the first objective of the network which is “to characterize, compare interventions and evaluate the care of patients with chronic diseases and multimorbidity in primary care and in the processes of continuity of care” in which it will try to describe the frailty of elderly people and design interventions to improve the care and attention of these patients. On the other hand, package 14 is within objective 5 of the network which is to “develop and evaluate patient-centered strategies and interventions, digital health solutions and quantitative and qualitative methodological improvements for health services research”. This package 14 will focus on having quantitative, statistical or epidemiological, or qualitative methodological tools to be used or applied in the Network’s research projects, or implemented in applications to be developed for use in healthcare practice.