Implementing citizen participation in local healthcare organizations

The Flemish Departement of Care wants to improve the level of citizen participation in the organization of integrated, goal-oriented care at the local level. The current practise of including representatives from patients and their caregivers into the decision-making process highlights the needs of chronic patients and their caregivers, shifting the focus away from those that only rarely – or might one day- use the healthcare and/or welfare system. This limits the focus to reactive care, minimizing the use of preventive and pro-active care in primary health and welfare settings. With the Flemish Departement of Care, we are looking for a method to broaden this scope. We want to enable every willing citizen to participate in the organization of integrated, goal-oriented care at the local level. We started a two-tiered process: formulating a broadly accepted vision statement about citizen participation in the decision-making process of local organizations and supporting those organizations into the execution of this vision statement. In this workshop we will bring policy makers and network organizations from different regions together to share best practices. -What good practises are available? -What are the pros and cons of choosing citizen participation instead of patient participation? -What is needed to formulate a broadly accepted vision statement? -What is needed to implement the execution of a vision statement in semi-independent organizations? -What support is needed to maintain citizen participation in these organizations? This session primarily aims to share experiences and bring together knowledge The workshop will be composed of: 20 minutes introduction and context, including a video interview with a local organization that includes patients and citizens into their decision-making process. 15 minutes designing a vision statement concerning citizen participation in the participant’s organization, identifying advantages and disadvantages for this approach (groups of max. 3 persons) 15 minutes selecting methods of implementation and identifying advantages and disadvantages for this approach (groups of max. 3 persons) 10 minutes synthesis and conclusion