During 2005/2006, a Canada-wide study was conducted with patient/consumers and other health stakeholders including government, Aboriginal community groups, industry, and health professional associations. A survey and dialogue sessions provided the means for people to provide their comments and experiences related to necessary elements and approaches for effective patient/consumer involvement in health policy discussions and decisions. A final report has been produced discussing the findings and the proposed action steps for increasing patient and consumer invovlement in the health policy decision making process.

With the assistance of the Best Medicines Coalition and The Arthritis Society, this project established essential elements to be considered in the development of a model for patient/consumer involvement in the health policy decision making process. Visit http://www.patientsandconsumers.org [1] for full details and a copy of the report.