A partnership based on both mutual trust and transparent communication is what forms the foundation of a dialogue between researchers and those affected by research. Together with other national stakeholders and patient initiatives, we advocate for a national PPI strategy that considers patients and the public as partners in academic clinical research.
We are delighted to see the integration of patient and public involvement (PPI) into the education of patients as well as current and aspiring clinical research and healthcare professionals.
In May, the SCTO contributed to the first patient expert training course organised by Switzerland’s European Patients’ Academy on Therapeutic Innovation (EUPATI CH). We presented an overview of our PPI activities and provided participants with valuable insights into the significance of and approaches to patient engagement in Switzerland. More information about the course is available (in German) at EUPATI CH.
We also had the privilege of introducing the concept of PPI to participants in the Certificate of Advanced Studies (CAS) for Clinical Research Coordinators at Bern University of Applied Sciences (BFH) as well as to participants in the CAS Qualité des soins at the University of Geneva and the University of Lausanne.
In March, the SCTO provided an online course for clinical research professionals who were considering applying for funding from the investigator-initiated clinical trials (IICT) programme of the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF). The course entitled “How to Successfully Address the PPI Requirement” was well attended with 36 participants. A video recording of the 2023 course is available on YouTube, and an updated version of the course will be offered again in 2024 online.
In collaboration with our multistakeholder PPI working group, we created a new Excel template to support researchers to plan and track PPI activities within their research projects. The template not only helps researchers evaluate whether those PPI activities had the desired effect but it also includes a contributor’s feedback form (available in English, French, German, and Italian), thus allowing researchers to improve how they collaborate with PPI partners.