[Mutual self-help and patient participiation: current developments in Austria]

In Austria, health-related self-help groups and organisations have been growing continuously over the past decades. They are increasingly demanding to be accepted as partners of the professional health system and to be involved in health policy decisions.Practice shows that "self-help friendly hospitals" are widespread in Austria. Although some self-help groups/organisations have gained access to health policy committees, research indicates that they find the system unresponsive to their interests. Public support for self-help organisations is particularly lacking at the national level as are conducive conditions for collective patient participation.A recent initiative by the Social Health Insurance Funds, the Ministry of Health and the National Health Promotion Agency seeks to tackle these problems. A plan for public support of self-help groups/organisations, primarily those operating at the national level, has been developed in collaboration with representatives of self-help organisations. It provides financial support for the activities of indication-specific self-help organisations at regional and national levels aiming at strengthening their autonomy. In addition, two institutions were founded: an umbrella organisation of indication-specific self-help organisations and a professional national support agency. The implementation of the new concept offers opportunities for closer cooperation between system stakeholders and self-help groups/organisations, and a new stimulus for patient participation is expected from these two new institutions.