Abstract— Parkinson’s is a complicated, chronic disease that most people live with for many years/decades. For this reason, a multidisciplinary disease management, involving several professions working together (neurologists, physiotherapists, speech and language therapists, occupational therapists, dieticians), is important to ensure that the patient retains his/her independence and continues to enjoy the best quality of life possible. To address these needs we describe an mhealth ecosystem for Parkinson’s disease (PD) management facilitating the collaboration of experts and empowering the patients to self-manage their condition. I. INTRODUCTION ARKINSON’S disease affects people of all races and cultures. The facts are startling. Around 6.3 million people have the condition worldwide – that’s less than one percent of the total population [1]. More than one million people live with Parkinson’s in Europe today and this number is forecast to double by 2030 [2]. It is the second most common neurodegenerative disease (after Alzheimer’s disease) and its prevalence will continue to grow as the population ages. The economic impact of the disease is high and its annual European cost is estimated at €13.9 billion [3]. Even though many different studies can be found in the literature addressing specific aspects of the disease there are only a few research efforts that adopt a holistic approach in order to address the disease management. The PERFORM The work of the authors was supported by the PD_manager project, funded within the EU Framework Programme for Research and Innovation Horizon 2020, under grant number 643706. D. Gatsios, G. Rigas and D.I. Fotiadis are with the Unit of Medical Technology and Intelligent Information Systems, Dept. of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Ioannina, Ioannina, GR 45110 Greece (email: dgatsios@cc.uoi.gr, rigas@cs.uoi.gr corresponding author phone: +302651009006; fax: +302651008889; e-mail: fotiadis@cc.uoi.gr). S. Konitsiotis is with Department of Neurology, Medical School, University of Ioannina, Ioannina, GR 45110 Greece (email: skonitso@cc.uoi.gr). A. Antonini Is with the Department for Parkinson’s Disease, IRCCS San Camillo, Via Alberoni 70, Venice, IT 30126 Italy (email: angelo.antonini@ospedalesancamillo.net). M.T. Arredondo is with the Life Supporting Technologies, Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, Avenida Complutense 30, Madrid, ES 28040 Spain (email: mta@lst.tfo.upm.es). D. Miljkovic and M. Bohanec are with the Department of Knowledge Technologies, Jozef Stefan Institute, Jamova 39, Ljubljana, SI 1000 Slovenia (email: dragana.miljkovic@ijs.si, marko.bohanec@ijs.si ). B. Koroušić Seljak is with the Computer Systems Department Jozef Stefan Institute, Jamova 39, Ljubljana, SI 1000 Slovenia (email: barbara.korousic@ijs.si). [4], the REMPARK [5] and the SENSE-PARK [6] systems are intelligent closed-loop systems that seamlessly integrate a range of wearable sensors (mainly accelerometers and gyroscopes) constantly monitoring several motor signals of the patients and enabling the prescribing clinicians remotely assess the status of the patients, adjust medication schedules and personalize treatment. In addition, the REMPARK system includes a belt-worn movement sensor that detects in real time movement alterations that activate an auditory cueing system controlled by a smartphone in order to improve patient's gait. CuPiD [7] is a closed-loop system for personalized and at-home rehabilitation focusing on freezing of gait. The PD_manager system proposes a holistic mobile approach based on a set of unobtrusive, simple-in-use, off- the-self, co-operative, mobile devices (a smartphone, an insole and a wristband). It covers aspects such as patients’ and caregivers training and focuses on adherence to the medical recommendations. Moreover, the open, based on the Internet of Things concept, knowledge management platform that will be developed as well as the studies analysing the clinicians diagnostic and prescribing behaviour and the mobile apps for empowering patients adhere to nutrition and physiotherapy plans are novel and along with the effort to build a Decision Support System (DSS) that suggests modifications in the medication plan take the PD management a step beyond the existing systems. The approach that is being followed for the development of the PD_manager system is: Phase 1 - Modelling of the behaviours of intended users of (patients, caregivers, prescribing neurologists and other healthcare providers). User needs analysis will examine current practices around every-day and specialist management of Parkinson’s disease, and identify where these practices may be enhanced or complemented by technological and/or process support. Detailed studies of the analytical strategies and knowledge sets used by expert health-care providers (e.g., neurologists undertaking diagnosis activities) will inform the design of a DSS embedded within PD_manager. At the same time, the policy and ethical framework under which Parkinson’s disease is managed will be assessed. These outcomes of behavioural modelling will be validated within a computational modelling framework, which will establish the viability of, and constraints on, the PD_manager support environment. Phase 2 - Assessment of symptoms (initially of motor with data collected prospectively from 20 advanced patients mhealth platform for Parkinson’s disease management Dimitrios Gatsios, George Rigas, Dragana Miljkovic, Barbara Koroušić Seljak, Marko Bohanec, Maria T. Arredondo, Angelo Antonini, Spyros Konitsiotis and Dimitrios I. Fotiadis, Senior Member, IEEE P