Background/Introduction
Patient empowerment is a process that helps people gain control over their own lives and increases their capacity to act on issues they themselves define as important.
Empowerment has both an individual and a collective dimension: at individual level,
it is the extent to which patients and their families or caregivers,
whenever appropriate,
participate in decisions related to their condition and contribute to organisational learning through their specific experience as patients.
At collective level,
patients,
through their representative organisations,
contribute to shaping the health care...
Description of activity and work performed
In May 2015,
the European Patients' Forum (EPF) launched a thematic Patient Empowerment Campaign to build momentum for the real empowerment of patients in Europe.
The aim of the campaign is to promote the development and implementation of policies,
strategies and healthcare and social services that empower patients to be involved in the decision-making and management of their condition.
“Patients prescribe E5 for sustainable health systems” is the tagline of the EPF campaign.
It demonstrates that patients are active people who can,
if supported and...
Conclusion and Recommendations
EPF will work in concert with the health community to promote understanding of what patient empowerment means from the patient perspective among decision-makers and health stakeholders.
As part of the campaign,
EPF will publish a Patient Empowerment Charter - a definition of patient empowerment from the patients' perpective - and a multi-stakeholder Roadmap for Action,
including good practices and strategy for concrete follow-up actions to be taken by all stakeholders.
Personal/Organisational information
The European Patients’ Forum (EPF) is an umbrella organisation that works with patients’ groups in public health and health advocacy across Europe.
Our members represent specific chronic disease groups at EU level or are national coalitions of patients.
Our vision is that all patients with chronic and/or lifelong conditions in the EU have access to high quality,
patient-centred equitable health and social care.
Our mission is to ensure that the patients’ community drives policies and programmes that affect patients’ lives to bring changes empowering them...
References
EPF Patient Empowerment Campaign
www.eu-patient.eu
@eupatientsforum
#PatientsprescribE
