Cochrane Colloquium 2018 Planning for an inclusive, inspiring and accessible event

[A Former User]

This is an email that Carolyn passed on for our members. She can't attend but Richard Morley from Cochrane has extended the invitation to PAN members. (see below)

There will also be 2 tweetchats

Cochrane will be holding its 25th annual Cochrane Colloquium at the Edinburgh International Conference Centre in Scotland from 15th to 18th September 2018. It will be hosted by Cochrane UK. The theme of the Colloquium will be: ‘Cochrane for all - better evidence for better health decisions'

We want to make this an inclusive, inspiring and accessible event. We also want to build on our existing work involving and engaging with consumers (patients, care-givers, family members and others) to take this engagement to a new level after the event is over. Therefore, we propose to make the Colloquium 2018 a "Patients Included" event that is co-designed, co-produced and co-presented with healthcare consumers, an event where everyone's input is valued equally. You can read more about ‘Patients Included' here: https://patientsincluded.org/

We would love your ideas about how people from around the world, who are some distance from Edinburgh, both within and especially from outside the UK, can meaningfully take part in our conference and make it a successful ‘Patients Included' event.

We are therefore running two online sessions to which you are warmly invited. The sessions will be 90 minutes long, conducted in English, using GoToMeeting, an online system that you can use on your PC or laptop, or take part by using your phone. You can check whether your computer is suitable by Official GoToMeeting Help and Support. You can download, install and test GoToMeeting software, read popular topics, user guides, and find resources that will help you host a successful online meeting. https://link.gotomeeting.com/system-check

The times and links to register are as follows:

Tuesday, November 14, 2017 2:00 PM - 3:30 PM GMT

Tuesday https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/2146435099860243969

Thursday, November 16, 2017 8:00 PM - 9:30 PM GMT

Thursday https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/9089327661730891265

These sessions are by invitation only so I should be very grateful if you wouldn't circulate the details to anyone else. Places are limited to a maximum of 8 at each workshop, on a first come first served basis. For people who register to take part we will be in touch with you before the online session with more information.

You can read more about our hopes for the conference by going to our blog at http://www.evidentlycochrane.net/cochrane-for-all-making-our-conference-a-patients-included-event/. There is also a link to a survey if you would like to send us your ideas. The survey remains open for suggestions, and we can see from the fantastic ideas being shared there that these will be so useful for our conference planning. Also, coming soon, there will be other opportunities, including Tweet chats, to gather and discuss ideas. We will be publishing regular blogs on Evidently Cochrane about our ‘Patients Included' planning, and these give an opportunity for people to post comments below the blog or on the social media platforms where they are shared.