There are numerous reasons why healthcare professionals who are passionate about wound care would benefit by participating at the EWMA 2024 Conference in London’, state Sarah Gardner, Society of Tissue Viability Chair, and Kirsi Isoherranen, President of the European Wound Management Association (EWMA). The Society of Tissue Viability has partnered with EWMA for its annual and globally anticipated wound management conference — EWMA 2024, taking place 1–3 May in London, UK. In this double interview, they shed light on the top reasons why you should register right away.

Q: What are the 3 best reasons to attend the EWMA 2024 conference?  

Reason 1: Newest research and knowledge — tailor your unique programme  

Kirsi Isoherranen:  
As a participant, you’ll get a unique and comprehensive overview of the latest research and best practices in wound management. In 2023, the conference had more than 200 sessions to choose from and a total of 1,389 scientific presentations over the three days, and we intend to reach the same number of sessions for EWMA 2024 in London. The sheer scale and range of the conference give participants a great opportunity for individual customising. You can tailor your programme exactly as you want it based on your interests, professional background and preferred way of learning.  

EWMA 2024 offers cutting-edge knowledge and recommendations on wound management. You can expect sessions on the topics of skin tears, oncological treatments, pain, burns, hidradenitis suppurativa, patient liaisons, wound assessment and diagnosis and compression therapy, or more technological aspects, like AI and robotics in wound care. These will be presented as a mix of workshops, interactive sessions, focus sessions, e-poster sessions and high-profile keynote lectures.  

Reason 2: Large exhibition — discover cutting-edge innovations in wound management   

Sarah Gardner:  
As a participant, you’ll also have an opportunity to explore the latest advancements in wound management by visiting the conference’s exhibition area. To help improve your wound care skillset, 150 leading industry exhibitors in wound management will stand ready to showcase state-of-the-art innovations, including equipment, devices and dressings. Additionally, you can attend several industry symposia, organised by the companies, with presentations on new techniques and innovations. From my experience, trying to keep updated on new approaches to wound care can be challenging when we are all so busy. Having access to all of these companies under one roof is really valuable, and you leave the conference feeling inspired and better informed.

Reason 3: Great networking opportunities — get to know your colleagues!  

Sarah Gardner and Kirsi Isoherranen:  
In our experience, the inclusive atmosphere at EWMA conferences always facilitates genuine knowledge and expertise exchange among participants. Because of this, networking opportunities might be the greatest benefit for healthcare professionals who participate in EWMA 2024. It’s a natural part of the conference experience to meet your peers from all around the globe, and in my experience, it can be in the most unexpected situations that you end up having the most interesting conversations.   

We think that staying updated on your wound management skillset should also be a fun and meaningful experience, and hopefully you will make new friends, colleagues and contacts as a EWMA 2024 participant. 

 

Making everyone’s contribution count  

Q: Could you elaborate on the theme for EWMA 2024: ‘Collaborative and sustainable wound care: making everyone’s contribution count’?   

Kirsi Isoherranen:  
We decided on this theme because it highlights the necessity of coming together across the conventional boundaries of the wound care field. Worldwide, we agree that the delivery of safe high-quality healthcare depends on sharing best practices through guidelines and promoting evidence-based practice. And, as we see it, delivering this standard requires shared learning, research and innovation among professionals from around the world. To achieve excellence in wound care, there is a need for greater international collaboration and local action to support the health of populations and nations. This is what the 2024 EWMA conference aims to facilitate. We’ll focus on how global collaboration and making everyone’s contribution count in wound care can help implement the highest quality of care at a local level, in Europe and beyond.  

New initiatives for EWMA 2024    

Q: In 2023, EWMA had one of its most successful conferences. How do you plan to exceed last year’s experience?  

Kirsi Isoherranen:  
Each year after the conference, we evaluate it and ask ourselves, ‘How can we make this even better?’ A EWMA 2023 survey showed that 97 percent of participants found that the conference met or exceeded their expectations. More than 96 percent of healthcare professionals who participated in the survey said that they would use their newly gained knowledge in their practice weekly or even more often. We go through all the feedback received carefully and aim to be better every year. This is a must for us — to improve, develop and serve the whole wound care community better. 

That being said, we always aim to raise the bar by offering new initiatives or session themes. For EWMA 2024, the following initiatives are planned:  

Example 1: Celebrating wound care nurses and their stories   

Sarah Gardner:  
Most wound care nurses find deep meaning in their jobs. They are very competent and are invaluable to their teams. The conference will aim to highlight the many good stories and examples of the work wound care nurses do and how they feel about their work.   

I believe there are many examples of excellent wound care being provided across the UK that often go unnoticed. We want to capture these good news stories and celebrate the fantastic work that healthcare clinicians are doing to prevent and manage wounds. This also provides an opportunity for other delegates to learn from these examples and take ideas back to their own areas of practice. I’ve learnt so much from other people over the years, and a conference like EWMA is a fantastic platform for sharing ideas. Why reinvent the wheel if someone else has done it for you? 

Example 2: The EWMA Arena  

Kirsi Isoherranen:  
Check out EWMA’s new stage – the ‘EWMA Arena’ – located in the exhibition area. Here, you can attend short scientific talks, see updates and recommendations and meet-the-experts panels for short and relevant talks. The stage will also host the industry new technologies sessions. 

We look forward to welcoming participants to this new stage. 

Example 3: Sustainability in wound care  

Kirsi Isoherranen: 
In line with EWMA’s recently established sustainable development objectives, EWMA promotes sustainability in several areas of wound care to address the major challenges of today. Sustainability in wound care encompasses several approaches and aspects: early diagnostics and access to multidisciplinary care, high-level education, evidence-based medicine, rethinking sustainable ways of everyday work and inclusivity and equality.

About the location: London is a great choice

Q: Why has EWMA chosen the UK and London as its conference destination for 2024?  

Kirsi Isoherranen:  
The UK has one of the highest educational levels among nurses, and together we can empower people with the knowledge and skills they need to solve skin and wound challenges. Furthermore, EWMA has always had strong ties to the Society of Tissue Viability, with whom we have collaborated before. London is an excellent conference destination, as it is well connected to the world, which makes it an accessible and fitting destination for EWMA 2024. 

Q: Why did the Society of Tissue Viability decide to partner with EWMA for this conference?   

Sarah Gardner:  
We have collaborated with EWMA before with great success, both face-to-face, in 2015, and virtually, in 2020, so it was natural for us to build upon this positive relationship. We are very excited about the programme for EWMA 2024 and are dedicated to the planning of our own Society of Tissue Viability stream, as well as special tracks and sessions for the Wound Research Network (WReN), healthcare students and community healthcare professionals. 

Q: What can you say to convince any of your members who are still undecided about attending the conference?  

Sarah Gardner:  
Some of our members will not have had the opportunity to attend EWMA before, so having it held in London will hopefully make it more accessible to people. The scale of this conference, compared to other wound care conferences, is immense, but don’t let this put you off! With size comes opportunity and choice. 

The Society’s own programme is being delivered alongside the main EWMA conference, and there will definitely be something of interest to you and the role you have in wound care. All sessions are independent of commercial interest, and we have a line-up of nationally respected, extremely credible speakers. Our membership is multidisciplinary, so whether you’re a nurse, podiatrist, therapist, doctor, educator or researcher, this conference will inspire you and you’ll leave with new ideas and new friends! The Society of Tissue Viability have chosen to offer a limited number of grants to health care staff from the UK.

• If you are interested in applying for a grant, please visit: EWMA/SoTV joint 2024 conference – Free places and bursaries – Society of Tissue Viability  
   

All of the Trustees will be in attendance at EWMA and would be delighted to meet you, so do come along to our stand or hopefully we will see you at one of our plenary sessions. 

• Read more about the EWMA 2024 Conference and register at EWMA 2024 conference – ewma.org.
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