IMI-JU – Patient engagement in Research
The Innovative Medicines Initiative (IMI) is a partnership between the European Union and the European pharmaceutical industry, represented by the European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations (EFPIA); it is the world’s largest public-private partnership (PPP) in the life sciences with a €3.3 billion budget for the period 2014-2024.
Jacqueline Bowman was contracted to work with the IMI-JU’s patient engagement and communications team to find a workable solution after they had already amassed significant statistical evidence the patients were not being meaningfully involved in funded projects.
Solution:
Identified specific stages of the medical innovation process in which patients could have meaningful engagement; developed & provided patient advocacy organisations with materials to educate and empower them to become more engaged in IMI-JU-funded projects; provided project investigators with specific advice and guidelines to ensure they would proactively involve patients in a meaningful way at each of the key stages.
Impact:
The strategy was adopted and enthusiastically supported by the IMI-JU’s leadership team and Board of Directors. A patient’s guide was added to the IMI-JU’s website, utilising key messages developed by Jacqueline in collaboration with the IMI-JU team. The Advice to Patient toolkit is now included as part of every Call for Proposals to encourage more meaningful patient involvement. It has since been built upon by specific patient-led IMI projects such as U-BIOPRED