Call for 10 patients to take part in a European focus group on telehealth - Chain of TRUST project

The European Patients’ Forum (EPF) is launching a call for expression of interest to participate in a European focus group aimed at exploring patients’ views and perspectives on Telehealth. We are aiming to have a group made up of 10 patients some of whom should be patients who have never used any sort of telehealth service. Being a “telehealth user” or simply having knowledge of Telehealth is, therefore, not a requirement for sending an expression of interests. 

What is the purpose of this European Focus Group?

This focus group will be implemented in the framework of the Chain of TRUST project (co-funded by the EU Public Health Programme) aiming to assess the perspective of the main end users of telehealth services (patients, doctors, nurses and pharmacists) across the EU to see whether and how views have evolved since the initial deployment of telehealth and what barriers there still are to building confidence in and acceptance of this innovative type of services. The findings and the recommendations of this project are expected to constitute a unique tool to inform policies and decision-making at various levels.  The project consortium is led by EPF. The full list of partners can be accessed here. For more information on the Chain of TRUST project please visit the project website at www.chainoftrust.eu.

This European focus group for patients is one of the key activities that the Chain of TRUST consortium will implement in order to gather knowledge and evidence of patients’ views, perception and barriers in relation to Telehealth. By implementing this focus group we aim to complement and validate the information collected through the previous activities (literature review, online survey, and national workshops), by trying, at the same time, to translate the findings from a national perspective to a European one.

Where and when will this focus group take place?

The workshop will take in Brussels on Saturday 10 December 2011. Travel and accommodation expenses linked to the attendance of this event will be fully covered by EPF in accordance with our reimbursement policy.

Who is eligible to participate?

To be eligible to participate the individual shall:

• be a patient with a chronic condition
• participate as an individual and not as a representative of a patient organisation
• have a good working knowledge of English in order to be able to actively engage in discussions with other participants
• have an interest in being involved in a focus group focused on exploring patients’ views and perspectives on Telehealth
• be resident in either a EU country or one of the countries participating in the EU Public Health Programme, i.e. Switzerland, Norway, Lichtenstein, Croatia and Iceland.

This focus group will involve up to 10 patients. The final selection of participants will be made according to pre-defined selection criteria with a view to ensuring a balanced representation in terms of gender, age, country of origin, disease areas as well as familiarity with telehealth services. 

Are you interested in participating?

If you are interested in taking part in this focus group you need to fill out a short registration form by Thursday November 17 at the very latest.

You can access the registration form through the following link:
www.eu-patient.eu/Initatives-Policy/Projects/EPF-led-EU-Projects/Chain-of-Trust/Chain-of-Trust-focus-group-on-Patients  
 
Should you have any questions, do not hesitate to contact Walter Atzori.