The course is made up of eight modules, which will help you gain the information and skills you need to become a successful patient representative. You do not have to do the modules in the order they are presented. The individual modules can be done in any order you feel best suits your needs and interests.
At the end of each module there is a short assessment for you to complete. Once you have successfully completed the assessment you can print off your end of module certificate.
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Becoming better informed
Being well informed about your condition is the first step in effective representation. This opening module gives you guidance on being better informed about your condition generally and will help you to access and handle information about your condition.
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Improving public awareness
The module “Being better informed” covers how being well-informed about your condition is an essential first step in whichever type of representation you wish to pursue or respond to. The second step covered in this module is to understand your audience and prepare the key messages you wish to convey.
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Improving treatment and care
This module explains how clinical guidelines, at a national and international level, affect the way healthcare is delivered. It will also help you to understand how guidelines are developed and how you can get involved in them to improve treatment and care.
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Supporting research and development
This module introduces you to the subject of clinical trials of medicines and other types of research that are done to further understanding of the best way of treating and managing conditions. This module gives you a guide to the main different types of medical research studies that are undertaken to develop treatments and also describes how you can get involved in medical research and development.
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Influencing policy
Public policies affect everybody’s lives. They are the guiding principles put in place by governments. Policies are used to help determine new laws and they affect all aspects of our lives - home, work, education, health, transport, housing and much more. This module aims to provide information about how you can communicate with policy makers to influence policies that matter to you.
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Working with the media
This module gives you an introduction to working with the media. As a patient and user of healthcare services your experience is valuable and may be of interest to the media for news stories on healthcare. Explaining a story from a patient's point of view can help to illustrate the effect of a service or treatment on an individual. Here you will be given an overview of the different types of media and how to use them.
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Participating in healthcare conferences
This module introduces you to the subject of patients attending and representing themselves and others at scientific or medical conferences, both at a national and European level. It will also give details about the different roles patients can play when attending a conference.
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International health research projects
This module introduces you to being involved in health research projects with a focus on those that are funded by the EU (European Union).