Chronic care isn’t always equal, here’s the proof

Insights from Brazil, Türkiye and Serbia.

Chronic lung disease doesn’t look the same everywhere. What it means to manage it in São Paulo can be very different from what it means in Belgrade or Ankara. The language, the cost, the wait time, even how much a patient understands their own illness, all of it changes from country to country.

Yet one truth is shared: a chronic diagnosis doesn’t end at the clinic door. For most people, the real work starts at home, where they must manage symptoms, medication, and uncertainty on their own.

The MULTIPULM project  is working to improve this experience by developing new tools that support both patients and clinicians. However, in order to build solutions that truly work, we must first understand the specific, local problems that need to be solved. By uncovering these fundamental human needs, we can build a platform that is not only technologically advanced but also human-centred.

Below, members from our pilot teams in Brazil, Türkiye, and Serbia share the biggest challenges they see and how MULTIPULM is working to solve them.

Bridging the Gap: Overcoming Barriers to Continuous Care in Brazil

Brazil is home to a vast and ambitious public health system, but its sheer scale can lead to significant strains. For patients with chronic conditions, this often translates into long waits for specialised care, a delay that can have profound consequences on their health and quality of life.

At the University of Fortaleza (Unifor), Fernando Ferreira, Researcher and Tech Part Coordinator for the project, identifies the primary challenge in his country with a single word: access. 

Waiting times can stretch from months to even years, preventing people from receiving the treatment they need when they need it. The MULTIPULM platform aims to address this by enabling remote therapy, providing a way for patients to continue their treatment at home after a formal clinical intervention ends. This focus on remote and continuous care is a direct response to the critical access gap Fernando identified, helping to ensure patients do not lose the vital progress they have made.

The impact on a person's quality of life is profound, affecting everything from their ability to work to interacting with family. As Fernando puts it:

“I've heard some people say that they couldn't even lift their grandsons off the floor for a hug. So, I mean, this affects their whole lifestyle.”

Empowering Patients in Türkiye with Clarity

Imagine trying to manage your health when the signals your body sends are a confusing mix of multiple conditions. This is the daily reality for many in Türkiye, where the overlapping symptoms of different chronic illnesses create uncertainty for patients and their families, becoming a significant barrier to effective self-management.

According to Nur Çobanoğlu, Project Manager from the Ministry of Health of Türkiye, the core challenge is a lack of clarity. The MULTIPULM project’s goal in Türkiye is to strengthen healthcare by co-designing a new, more structured protocol that helps clarify treatment paths for both clinicians and patients. This work aims to provide the clarity needed to move from a model where patients rely solely on their doctors to one where they become active, informed participants in their own health journey.

“I think the biggest change would be for the patients and the families to become more informed and knowledgeable about their self-care because right now they only trust in the doctor and they are not really paying much attention in their self-care.”

From Hospital to Home: The Power of Patient Education in Serbia

Too often, a patient's journey with chronic illness leads to a revolving door of hospital visits. In Serbia, our team believes the key to breaking this cycle is not in the hospital, but in the home.

Tomi Kovacevic, a specialist in palliative care and the Beneficiary Project Manager for the Serbian pilot at the Institute for Pulmonary Diseases of Vojvodina, explains that a central problem is that patients are often not well educated about their own illnesses. This includes knowing when to seek check-ups or how to properly manage their medication. 

The tools being developed by MULTIPULM will directly address this gap, providing new ways to educate patients, facilitate easier follow-ups, and allow for self-reported check-ups from the comfort of their homes. This investment in patient education has a significantly broader impact.

Better-educated patients who can recognise symptoms earlier can help reduce hospitalisation rates. This not only lowers costs for the healthcare system but, more importantly, allows people to receive care in a more comfortable and familiar environment.

“The people will stay at their home where it's much better than in hospitals. And of course, speaking strictly economically, it will lower the cost of the healthcare system, which is really important in today's time.”

Local Challenges, United Solutions

While the specific hurdles vary by location, a common thread unites the work in each pilot country. The interviews reveal three core themes that MULTIPULM aims to address: 

1. the need for better access in Brazil

2. greater clarity in Türkiye

3. and deeper patient education in Serbia.

These three distinct challenges demand a single, unified approach: building technology that listens first. The MULTIPULM platform is not just about data and devices; it is about translating local human needs into a global standard of care. The ultimate question is not what technology can do, but how it can serve.

Want to Meet the Teams Behind These Stories?

Visit our Partners page to learn more about our pilot teams!

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- By Christopher Aguilar Communication and Dissemination manager in Future Needs

Communication & Dissemination Leader in Multipulm Project