The project aims to protect and promote patients’ rights as an integral and crucial component of the rights and values of the European Union. While addressing challenges arising from the circumvention of patients’ rights in practice, the project recognizes that knowledge and understanding of these rights are powerful tools for monitoring and protection. However, awareness alone is insufficient. It is essential to monitor deficiencies and abuses of rights in patients’ daily lives to advocate for and safeguard these rights effectively. The project envisions broad involvement of social partners, ranging from vulnerable groups to political leadership at the regional and national levels.
Target Groups:
The beneficiaries of the project include vulnerable patient groups such as the uninsured, the poor, geographically remote individuals, as well as other vulnerable groups like the elderly, women, and immigrants. Additionally, the project targets patient advocacy organizations, entities responsible for designing local health strategies and implementing health policies (Regions, Municipalities, Regional Health Authorities), and Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) dealing with health policy issues at both local (Regional Health Authorities) and national levels (Ministries, relevant committees, Parliament).
Activities:
- Legal mapping of 9 national laws and identification of 29 pending regulatory acts hindering full enforcement of patient rights legislation.
- Mapping of over 50 institutional bodies and committees where patient representation is absent or limited, highlighting critical governance gaps.
- Formation of a 42-member civil society advocacy committee and submission of 19 structured policy interventions to national authorities and public consultations.
- Organisation of 6 interactive advocacy workshops and 10 legal counselling sessions, empowering over 100 patients and informal carers.
- Implementation of 58 home visits to chronically ill and isolated individuals to assess rights violations and support access to care.
- Publication of the “Active Patient – Active Citizen” guide and creation of a multilingual digital platform (in English, French, Urdu, Farsi) to enhance rights awareness.
- Delivery of a nationwide training session for 72 healthcare professionals and public servants, promoting legal literacy and complaint mechanisms.
- Partnership with “COHESION NETWORK 2GETHER” for focus groups in six municipalities and joint local actions addressing structural barriers.
Funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Education and Culture Executive Agency. Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.