Best practices on Chronic Patients and Organizations’ empowerment

Active Citizenship Network (ACN) has decided to gather and share during the 8th celebration of the European Patients' Rights Day 2014 (dedicated to: "The role of citizens' organisations in the empowerment of patients with chronic diseases") the following best practices (BP) of different citizens and patients' organisations, coming from a wide range of EU countries on:

• empowerment of individual patients: information, support and capacity-building of individual patients with chronic diseases, as well as their relatives, who usually play an essential role in helping them to deal with their conditions, including their social, psychological, and other impacts. This includes partnerships between patients' organisations and other stakeholders, i.e. health professionals, public institutions, media, healthcare industry, etc.

• empowerment of patients' organisations by the creation of national or European networks, which transfer to them competences and tools, help them create partnerships, identify common objectives, etc., so as to have an effective impact on the health policy-making.

The BP come from 17 different Countries (Belgium; Bulgaria; Cyprus; Finland; France; Germany; Georgia; Italy; Latvia; Macedonia; Malta: Netherlands; Portugal, Romania; Spain; Switzerland; United Kingdom) and the sources are:
• experiences brought by the members of the Associations involved in the ACN Network and in the Organization involved in the Conference of the 8th European Patients' Rights Day 2014.
• some of the 40 BP "active involvement of active ageing citizens in the health policy" collected in the framework of 6th EPRD (2012) (www.activecitizenship.net/files/take_action/active_ageing_eu_policy.pdf).

17 of 28 BPs concern the empowerment of individual patients, 3 of 28 concern the empowerment of patients' organisations, 8 of 28 relate to both the aspects analyzed.

The kind of subjects involved in the BPs are, of course, civic organizations but most of them includes the participation/promotion by public institutions, universities, health insurance, international networks, university hospitals, scientific societies, foundations, industries etc.

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For further information please write to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

With the support of:

The European Union,
in the framework of the Health Programme (2008-2013)

 
European Economic and Social Committee

The European Patients' Rights Day 2014 has been made possible also thanks to an unrestricted educational grant from: