Patients and partners found the Swiss PPIE Network

Patients and caretakers want to play a more active role in healthcare and exert influence to improve the relevance and quality of services, products and projects in healthcare, research and policy. To this end, on Saturday, 44 patient partners, interested patients and representatives of patient organisations and healthcare institutions founded the Swiss PPIE Network.

The non-profit association is committed to promoting patient and public involvement and engagement (PPIE) in Switzerland. The newly founded organisation aims to promote and systematically anchor the participation and influence of patients, relatives and representatives of the population in healthcare, research, teaching and health policy. The network will also provide better support for existing projects and new initiatives.

PPIE has been increasingly implemented in publicly funded clinical research and in certain healthcare activities over the past years. However, Switzerland, with its organisations in healthcare, research, regulation and health policy, continues to lag other European countries in these areas. However, the founding of this association is the demonstration of the need and willingness to create an umbrella organisation that will represent patients and the public in healthcare across the whole spectrum.

President elect Cristiana Sessa stated: “Healthcare must be shaped by those it serves. Our mission is to empower patients and the public, ensuring their voices shape every aspect of healthcare. By fostering strong collaborations, supporting innovative projects, and promoting shared initiatives, we are working towards a system where everyone’s experience and insight matter.”

Broad support

Organisations such as the Federal Office of Public Health welcomed the initiative. Federal Councillor Elisabeth Baume-Schneider wishes the initiators every success in establishing the organisation and in their subsequent activities. The founding members include 29 individual patient representatives and interested citizens, as well as 15 institutional members such as the Swiss Cancer Institute (SCI), Institute for Collaborative Practice and Leadership in Healthcare, School of Health Professions, at Bern University of Applied Sciences (BFH), Swiss Patient Organisation (SPO), Swiss Clinical Trial Organisation (SCTO), EUPATI Switzerland, and Swiss Academy of Medical Sciences (SAMW).