{"id":12836,"date":"2013-05-22T13:17:32","date_gmt":"2013-05-22T13:17:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.invo.org.uk\/?page_id=12836"},"modified":"2015-02-09T12:36:43","modified_gmt":"2015-02-09T12:36:43","slug":"the-road-towards-ppi-in-research-in-denmark","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.invo.org.uk\/the-road-towards-ppi-in-research-in-denmark\/","title":{"rendered":"The road towards PPI in research in Denmark"},"content":{"rendered":"
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By Mogens H\u00f8rder<\/strong><\/p>\n

The road was not always towards the active involvement of patients<\/strong><\/p>\n

Health research in Denmark has a high ranking in international comparisons of performance within research, in particular within clinical research \u2013 the kind of research that involves the participation of patients. However, there has been growing concern, from clinical researchers as well as pharmaceutical companies, that the number of clinical trials would fall due to failure in the recruitment of patients into trials. This concern was addressed during 2008-9 by the National Forum for Health Research and many initiatives were undertaken to counteract the fall.<\/p>\n

It was, unexpectedly, out of these initiatives that the focus was turned towards \u2018active involvement\u2019 rather than a focus on measures to increase the number of \u2018passive trial participants\u2019. A parallel to this \u2018renewed\u2019 awareness of the role of patients and the public was expressed by the European Science Forum in the 2010 publication, Implementation of Medical Research in Europe:<\/p>\n

\u201cPatient and public involvement in clinical trials is founded on the belief that a collaborative approach to testing treatments is vital if the uncertainties that matter most to patients are to be reduced. Patients may be involved in the sense that they are invited to participate as \u2018passive trial participants\u2019 or may be involved actively as co-researchers in the research process itself, working alongside other health professionals throughout the project.<\/p>\n

The turn in the road<\/strong><\/p>\n

In late 2010 the National Forum for Health Research decided to establish a working group on patient and public involvement (PPI) in research. The Forum reports to the Ministry of Health and its members represent a broad range of stakeholders from the health service, universities, health science societies, research councils, patient organisations, and the medico and pharmaceutical industry.<\/p>\n

The working group made contact with INVOLVE, which was identified as the obvious organisation to learn from. In 2011 INVOLVE arranged a study tour to a number of research networks in England that had all actively gained experience of patient and public involvement in research.<\/p>\n

In late 2011 the study group was able to present a report and recommendations to the National Forum for Health Research. In May 2012 the report and\u00a0 recommendations were launched at a national conference chaired by the Minister of Health. The aim of the recommendations is two fold: to raise awareness about PPI to a broader audience and to serve as a starting platform for implementation of PPI among a number of actors.<\/p>\n

Recommendations at national level:<\/strong><\/p>\n