Advocacy & Awareness
EWMA runs or engages in projects supporting the dissemination of key messages supporting high quality wound management and advocates for the importance of wound management among decision makers in Europe. Below you can find more information about current and previous projects.
Proud to make a difference - a celebration of healthcare workers in wound care
With the #ProudToMakeADifference campaign, EWMA seeks to illuminate the impactful world of wound care and the dedication of healthcare workers within it.
Join us in this visual celebration and tell us your story of why you are #ProudToMakeADifference
Previous campaigns
Managing Diabetes campaign
In June 2020 EWMA engaged in Health Awareness on the 2020 Managing Diabetes campaign, together with a number of different organisations engaged in diabetes.
Read more
European Parliament: EWMA & EPUAP Roundtable debate on patient safety and wound care in Europe
On 7 November 2019, EWMA & the European Pressure Ulcer Advisory Panel (EPUAP), will organise a roundtable debate on patient safety and wound care in Europe: “10 years after the Council recommendation on patient safety. The perspective of chronic wound and pressure ulcer prevention”.
Read more
On 7 November 2019, the European Wound Management Association (EWMA) & the European Pressure Ulcer Advisory Panel (EPUAP), will organise a roundtable debate on patient safety and wound care in Europe: “10 years after the Council recommendation on patient safety. The perspective of chronic wound and pressure ulcer prevention”. The meeting will take place on November 7th (12:30 – 14:00) at the European Parliament, Brussels (Members Salon), and it will be kindly hosted by MEP Andreas Glück (Renew Europe Group, Germany).
Download the Pressure Ulcers and Patient Safety Fact Sheet here
Hand Hygiene Campaign
EWMA has joined forces with the International Council of Nurses (ICN) to support the World Health Organization’s Hand Hygiene campaign in 2017. This campaign aims at raising awareness among healthcare professionals about the critical importance of hand hygiene in improving patient outcomes.
Read more
A campaign programme including dissemination of guidance materials and a workshop on hand hygiene in wound management was held during the EWMA 2017 Conference in Amsterdam.
National Public Awareness Events
In the wake of the EWMA 2016 conference in Bremen, a breakfast meeting on the 10 May was organised for specially invited German members of Parliament and health care decision-makers in Berlin.
Purpose: to create awareness about the challenges of wound care with the theme “Health Care in times of demographic changes”.
Read more
Public Awareness Event in Berlin, May 2016
In the wake of the EWMA 2016 conference in Bremen, EWMA organised, in collaboration with the German Chronic Wounds Initiative, Initiative Chronische Wunden (ICW), the German-Austrian-Swiss wound care umbrella organisation WundD.A.CH, and the German Wound Council (DWR) a breakfast meeting on the 10 May for specially invited German members of Parliament and health care decision-makers in Berlin.
The purpose was to create awareness amongst policy and health care decision-makers about the challenges of wound care with the theme “Health Care in times of demographic changes”.The meeting in Berlin was the first experience of that kind made by EWMA. However, it follows in a tradition of engaging in meeting with members of the European Parliament and national health care decision-makers in a number of European countries during recent years.
Future Events
EWMA aims to continue to engage in or arrange similar debates/events in future years, with the purpose of raising the awareness about wound care among relevant decision-makers .
These events may be arranged in connection with the annual EWMA Conference.
Joint EPUAP & EWMA PU Prevention & Patient Safety Advocacy Project
The European Pressure Ulcer Advisory Panel (EPUAP) and EWMA have agreed to initiate a joint European advocacy project. The work is partly inspired by the EWMA collaboration from 2012-2015 with the Eucomed Advanced Wound Care Sector group (AWCS) in relation to the EU Joint Action on Patient Safety and Quality of Care (PaSQ).
Read more
The European Pressure Ulcer Advisory Panel (EPUAP) and EWMA are collaborating on a joint engagement in the PU prevention and patient safety agendas at the European level targeting EU institutions including the European Parliament as well as other key stakeholders.
Patient safety has for some years been high on the European Commission health care agenda. At the EU level as well as at national levels of many European nations, considerable investments have been made by health care authorities to establish organisations and programmes addressing the patient safety agenda.
Looking at the patient safety agenda from a wound care perspective, the topic of Pressure Ulcer (PU) prevention has always been central due to the fact that most PU’s are preventable if the patient is managed correctly by health care staff.
Consequently both EPUAP and EWMA have separately been advocating for the prevention of PU’s as a major health care and patient safety issue. Whereas EPUAP, in particular, has strongly supported the annual STOP Pressure Ulcer campaign, EWMA has in collaboration with the Eucomed Advanced Wound Care Sector group earlier engaged in raising attention in the European Parliament and the European Commission in connection with the EU Joint Action on Patient Safety and Quality of Care (PaSQ) programme.
Download the Pressure Ulcers and Patient Safety Fact Sheet here
EWMA representative in the UEMS Thematic Federation on Wound Healing
EWMA has a representative in the Thematic Federation on Wound Healing, established under the European Union of Medical Specialists (UEMS), and will attend future meetings with the main objective to support more standardised education of physicians in wound management.
Read more
In October 2016 the Thematic Federation on Wound Healing, established under the European Union of Medical Specialists (UEMS), held their first meeting. The establishment of this group was initiated by EWMA Liaisons Officer, Robert Strohal.
EWMA has a representative in the group and will attend future meetings with the main objective to support more standardised education of physicians in wound management.
Raising Awareness About Pressure Ulcer Prevention In Connection With EU Parliament Initiative On Patient Safety
EWMA has actively contributed to the work process that has led to the adoption of MEP Rossi’s own-initiative report about “Patient Safety Including The Prevention And Contro of Healthcare Associated Infections”
Read more
… In Connection With EU Parliament Initiative on Patient Safety (2012-2013)
In collaboration with the Eucomed Advanced Wound Care Sector group (AWCS) EWMA during 2012-2013 engaged in the following initiative of the European Parliament.
In October 2013, the European Parliament (EP) adopted the own-initiative report by MEP Oreste Rossi on “Patient Safety including the prevention and control of healthcare associated infections”.
The report specifically mentions multidisciplinary wound care and prevention of pressure ulcers, and urges member states to implement or increase measures to support multidisciplinary wound care and pressure ulcer prevention.
EWMA has actively contributed to the work process that has led to the adoption of MEP Rossi’s own-initiative report. Earlier in 2013, a EWMA policy paper on Patient Safety and Pressure Ulcers (which is available for download here) was elaborated by previous EWMA President Prof. Zena Moore, who also presented on the Prevention of Healthcare Associated Infections in a May 2013 workshop hosted by the EP and MEP Rossi.
The own-initiative report by MEP Rossi is a reaction to the 2009 EP recommendation on “Patient safety, including the prevention and control of healthcare associated infections” and how this recommendation has been implemented by the Member States. Also available at the EP website
This advocacy activity by EWMA is related to the EU-supported Joint Action on Patient Safety and Quality of Care (PaSQ).
CHRODIS-JA - addressing chronic diseases and healthy ageing across the life cycle
EWMA is a collaborating partner in the programme, which is initiated by the European Commission and runs from 2014-2018.
Read more
EWMA is a collaborating partner in the programme, which is initiated by the European Commission and runs from 2014-2018.
The objective of EWMA engagement in the CHRODIS-JA is to work towards increased focus on how to prevent and treat diabetic foot ulcers, which are one of the most common complications to diabetes. To achieve this EWMA engages primarily in the work package (WP) 7 of the CHRODIS-JA.
Representation in the CHRODIS-JA is taken care of by Professor Alberto Piaggesi, University of Pisa, Italy, who is a member of the EWMA Council, and by the EWMA secretariat.
Find more information about the CHRODIS-JA here
European Innovation Partnership on Active and Healthy Ageing
From 2012 until April 2016 EWMA was a member of the EIP-AHA Action Group B3 “Replicating and tutoring integrated care for chronic diseases, including remote monitoring at regional level”. EWMA continues to follow the activities of this group without active membership.
Read more
EWMA is a member of the EIP-AHA Action Group B3 “Replicating and tutoring integrated care for chronic diseases, including remote monitoring at regional level” since its start in 2012.
EWMA is committed to the work plan of the B3 Action Group, offering its knowledge and work contribution on topics such as:
- The multidisciplinary approach to wound care, which may also be applied to other disease areas.
- The organisation of wound care in the home care setting across Europe.
General information about the EIP-AHA is available here.
