Patients’ experiences brought closer to research in new partnership
Health and Denmark’s other health science faculties have entered into a new partnership with the organisation Danish Patients. The aim is to give researchers better access to the experiences of patients and their relatives, thereby strengthening both the relevance and the impact of health science research.
Facts about the partnership
- Health has entered into the agreement together with the faculties of health sciences at the University of Copenhagen, the University of Southern Denmark and Aalborg University, as well as Danish Patients and the National Center for User Involvement.
- The partnership will include joint research projects and grant applications, knowledge sharing, workshops, conferences and communication activities.
- The collaboration will be led by a steering group with representatives from all partners.
- The National Center for User Involvement will serve as the secretariat.
- The agreement will initially run for five years.
Many research environments at Health already collaborate closely with patients and patient organisations. Now a new national partnership will provide a stronger shared framework for this collaboration.
Health has entered into a strategic partnership agreement with Danish Patients and the National Center for User Involvement (Nationalt Center for Brugersamarbejde), together with the faculties of health sciences at the University of Copenhagen, Aalborg University and the University of Southern Denmark.
“This marks an important shared step forward. When all the faculties of health sciences join forces with us, we can bring the knowledge of patients and their relatives even closer to the research that will help shape the healthcare system of the future,” says Line Riddersholm, Director of the National Center for User Involvement at Danish Patients.
From good experiences to a shared national framework
The partnership will provide a framework for joint research projects, knowledge sharing, workshops and conferences. The agreement also highlights a number of themes where collaboration can be further strengthened – including personalised medicine, health inequalities and new ways of organising patient care pathways.
“At the universities, we have a responsibility to ensure that our research is not only methodologically strong, but also meaningful to the people it concerns. Through this partnership, we will be able to bring the experiences of patients and their relatives even closer to research projects. This will strengthen both the quality, relevance and impact of health science research,” says Dean Anne-Mette Hvas.
Collaboration in practice
The next step is to translate the partnership’s themes into concrete activities and projects. A steering group with representatives from all partners will set the direction, while a professional coordination group will develop collaborative initiatives across universities and patient organisations.
The first steering group meeting is expected to take place at Danish Patients, and the partners are also planning a joint workshop to define the first areas of collaboration and concrete activities.
Contact
Advisor Mette Hyldgaard Poulsen
Aarhus University, Health – Faculty Secretariat
Phone: +45 93 52 20 85
Email: mettehp@au.dk