Content production process
EUPATI stands for quality, ensuring transparency, accessibility and factual accuracy. The expertise and insights from EUPATI sustaining partners, network members and external advisors are supported by qualitative and quantitative research as well as a systematic literature review conducted by EUPATI prior to content production. EUPATI has also established an independent international ethics committee and a regulatory advisory board.
In combining this collective knowledge, EUPATI has been able to produce a high-quality product which encompasses more than 4.000 content items. All content is written by experts coming from different backgrounds, who have worked within the subject area. It is then checked by further experts who come from a different background working for a different stakeholder group. For example, content written by a clinical researcher in industry would be checked by an academic or patient expert. To check for factual accuracy, transparency, neutrality, and readability the content is reviewed by our independent review boards, experts, and committees. For example, content related to regulatory affairs is reviewed from staff members of regulatory authorities in Germany, Italy, Switzerland, Spain and Ireland. HTA content was reviewed by HTA experts from HTAi and EUnetHTA. Material on ethics is reviewed by ethicists of EUPATI’s Ethics Panel.
To validate whether the material in the online modules is understandable and readable by the health-interested public, EUPATI tests significant proportions of its material with patient advocates, including testing screen reader accessibility of the website with Fighting Blindness Ireland. Feedback from all reviewers has been incorporated in editorial cycles of EUPATI’s content.
Internal production and review process
In summary, the EUPATI content production process can be divided into internal and external production/testing and review processes including the following elements:
- Content created by experts from different stakeholders;
- EUPATI Editorial Board (comprising patient organisations, academia, Industry, NGOs) collectively reviews each topic to ensure content is consistent, avoids unnecessary duplication and is fit for intended audience/purpose.
External testing and review process
- User-tested with target audience;
- Reviewed by independent Project Advisory Board members (e.g. journalists, academics, ethics committee members);
- Relevant topics reviewed by independent regulatory experts and HTA experts;
- Edited for appropriate language by health literacy experts.
Editorial Board
The EUPATI Editorial Board consists of 5 members representing all stakeholders. The Editorial Board reviews all new or updated content for EUPATI Toolbox and Patient Expert Course (including all related e-Learning and Face2Face course content). They guarantee that EUPATI content is well-focused, consistent, understandable, accessible and targeted. They also advice the EUPATI Secretariat about any content that needs to be updated, e.g. due to regulatory changes. The Editorial Board signs off on all EUPATI content before it is released to the public.