Artificial Intelligence (AI) is transforming healthcare, and the AI4HF project – “Artificial Intelligence for Heart Failure” – plays a leading role in this transformation. SHINE 2Europe is one of the partners in this four-year project, which aims to develop the first reliable AI tool to personalize care for heart failure patients. The approach is based on personalized medicine, ensuring that solutions are developed together with patients and healthcare professionals.
To ensure continuous involvement, Local Clinical/Patient Working Groups have been set up in Utrecht/Amsterdam (Netherlands), Barcelona (Spain), Brno (Czech Republic), Dar es Salaam (Tanzania) and Lima (Peru). Each group is made up of 6 to 8 professionals specialized in heart failure and an equal number of patients. Their mission is to assess the cultural and organizational suitability of the project’s materials and tools.
Under the coordination of SHINE 2Europe, the five clinical centres held their second round of workshops in autumn/winter 2024. These meetings served to gather feedback on the information packs and communicate the relationships between patients, healthcare professionals and AI in different clinical contexts. 27 patients and 35 healthcare professionals took part, along with hospital administrators from Peru and Tanzania, highlighting the growing institutional interest in AI for the treatment of heart failure.
The information materials were considered clear and relevant, but participants suggested improvements to make the information more accessible, such as reducing the volume of text, including more visual elements and exploring alternative formats such as short videos.
Regarding the role of AI in healthcare, opinions varied. Some professionals see AI as an objective colleague who provides advice, while others argue that the results should be interpreted by clinicians. There was consensus that AI should never replace professionals in decision-making, nor human contact in healthcare.
The third round of workshops is planned for early summer 2025 and will focus on evaluating risk prediction tools and exploring potential inequalities in the treatment of heart failure. The AI4HF consortium would like to thank all the participants for their commitment to improving healthcare.
AI4HF is funded by the European Union’s Horizon Europe programme and has 16 partners from Europe, Peru and Tanzania.