Patient Participation.

The Synthesis Working Paper "Patient participation" provides scientifically based recommendations for decision-makers, designed to make the Swiss health care system more efficient. Efficiency in this context means that with the given resources more health for all is achieved.
The recommendations are mainly based on the scientific findings delivered by nine projects of the Swiss National Science Foundation’s National Research Programme "Smarter Health Care" (NRP 74). These projects represent the part of the NRP 74 that specifically dealt various aspects of pa-tient involvement.
The process leading to this working paper was largely driven by doctoral students engaged NRP 74 projects who are members of the NRP 74's Emerging Health Care Leaders (EHCL) programme. They interviewed researchers, consulted the current literature on the topic and interacted with stake-holders from practice, administration and politics. This Synthesis Working Paper thus bridges edu-cation, research and practice, contributing at multiple levels to proactively address some of the ma-jor challenges facing Swiss health care.