Compar-EU: Improving Self-management Interventions
In 2018, we will take part in several EU-funded projects to bring the voice of patients in the health research and policy communities.
COMPAR-EU is a multi-method, multi-component, inter-disciplinary project funded within the EU programme for Research, Horizon 2020. COMPAR-EU will contribute to bridging the gap between current knowledge and practice on self-management interventions or SMIs.
COMPAR-EU will identify, compare, and rank the most effective and cost-effective self-management interventions (SMIs) for adults in Europe. It focuses on SMIs within four high-priority chronic conditions: type 2 diabetes (T2DM), obesity, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), and heart failure.
Why is improving self-management interventions so crucial?
Chronic conditions affect over 80% of people aged over 65 and they account for 77% of the disease burden (disability-adjusted life years). Furthermore, between 70% and 80% of healthcare costs arise from chronic disease management. A good management of SMIs can improve clinical and societal outcomes in chronic conditions.
At the end of the project, the goal is to have an impact in supporting policy-makers, guideline developers, researchers, industry, professionals and patients to make informed decisions on the identification and implementation of the most suitable SMIs, therefore contributing to the diffusion of the knowledge, healthcare sustainability and equity and promoting EU competitiveness in a globally emerging market.
Within the project, EPF will be leading the work around identifying key patient-prioritised outcomes as reported in the literature for each of the four chronic conditions. This will an inclusive process, in which patients will participate in Delphi panels over the course of 2018. In this way, we want to include as many as possible patients’ perspectives.
Furthermore, we willensure that patients’ views and gender and socioeconomic dimensions that could potentially affect equity are taken into account throughout the project.
The project started in January and it will run for 5 consecutive years, until 2023. EPF is in the project consortium together with Fundacion Avedis (FAD), the Institute for Medical Technology Assessment (iMTA), the Netherlands Institute for Health Services Research (NIVEL), the Ibero-American Cochrane Centre, OptiMedis AG and UOI.
With COMPAR-EU we are not re-inventing the wheel. EPF’s contribution to the project builds on and takes forward our previous work in the EU tender studies EMPATHiE (patient empowerment, PISCE (self-care in minor/self-limiting conditions) and in Pro-Step (self-management in chronic conditions).
More information
To know more about the project, visit its webpage.
Contact person:
Lyudmil Ninov, EPF Project Officer