Brussels, 26/05/2015 (Agence Europe) - At a conference on Wednesday 20 and Thursday 21 May, which brought together more than 150 stakeholders, the European Patients' Forum (EPF) kicked off an annual campaign on promoting patient empowerment.
Throughout the campaign, the EPF will work with health organisations to encourage Europe-wide discussions about this crucial subject in an effort to develop concrete action that improves health care systems in Europe.
EPF President Anders Olauson, stated: “Too many patients are still struggling to get the support they need to become equal partners in care. To make real progress, we need to make patient empowerment a priority, starting with the development of an EU-wide strategy and action plan”.
Under the slogan, Patients prescribe E5 for sustainable health systems, the campaign pursues five objectives the keywords of which begin with the letter “E”: Education, Expertise, Equality, Experience and Engagement. More specifically: 1) Education: patients can make informed decisions about their health if they have all the relevant information in an easily understandable format; 2) Expertise: since they know themselves so well, patients are the ones best placed to determine the health care that suits them; 3) Equality: patients need appropriate support to be on an equal footing with health professionals; 4) Experience: patients must work in partnership with the patient organisations which represent them and which can channel their views thanks to the experience they have gained; 5) Engagement: patients need to be involved in designing new, more effective health care for all, and in research to deliver new and better treatments and services. (Isabelle Lamberty)