The More Participation, Better Health project aims to promote the participation and empowerment of representatives of people with or without disease, within the scope of health decision-making processes, at the political and institutional levels, in Portugal.
The project is based on a participatory, peer-learning, and action-research methodology, in which people with or without disease/activists integrate and facilitate work groups, develop all activities, and are the key elements in the training of other pairs.
The project launched a petition (still open to subscriptions) for the institution of the "Charter for Public Participation in Health," a fundamental step towards:
1) Promote more significant involvement of citizens in decisions related to health policy and;
2) Encourage decision-making based on broad public participation.
Following the elaboration of the Charter, ten priorities were also identified to promote public participation in the area of health in Portugal.
The Charter was publicly launched on October 18 at the MORE PARTICIPATION, BETTER HEALTH Forum in the auditorium of the new building of the Assembly of the Republic. It was also a day of Debate dedicated to the theme of participation in health, with guests from various entities linked to the areas of health and participation. In addition, the results of surveys carried out with 78 organizations in the health area, and more than 600 citizens were also presented regarding their views, attitudes, and experiences of participation in the health area. More information on the event page.
See the initiative's website for more information.
