European Pressure Ulcer Advisory Panel

Reflections on the role of the European Pressure Ulcer Advisory Panel

In recent years, there has been an increasing emphasis upon Evidence Based Practice (EVP) in decision making in healthcare. While there are many reasons for this our patients and the societies in which we live demand that we, as healthcare professionals, work in accordance with the available research evidence combined with our clinical experience, the opinions and wishes of patients, and the available resources. The EPUAP continues to p EPUAP support for healthcare professionals in meeting these high expectations.

How can the EPUAP best help meet these expectations given that the mission of the charity is to provide the relief of persons suffering from or at risk of pressure ulcers, in particular through research and the education of the public. Research then forms a key element of our mission not through the funding of major projects but in the past, and hopefully in the future to, the EPUAP stimulated research by awarding small grants to make pilot studies possible and to explore the potential of new research projects.

Another key element is our role in education — perhaps at this time primarily of healthcare professionals through the use of the annual Open Meetings as a strong discussion forum where clinical experiences can be shared. The annual open meetings have proven to be an excellent way to encourage networking, the exchange of research data and clinical experiences leading to the development of formal position statements and other guidance documents. No doubt this year’s Open Meeting in Oxford will continue this tradition.

A major undertaking in 2007 has been the collaboration with the US National Pressure Ulcer Advisory Panel on new evidence based clinical practice guidelines. This is a major opportunity to enhance the quality of pressure ulcer care and is certainly the biggest project that the EPUAP has undertaken since its foundation, with the new guideline available in 2008.

Whilst the guideline project is our most ambitious effort to date, new challenges will occur as the EPUAP matures over the following years. Among these I would expect attention to focus upon issues such as pressure ulcer pathophysiology, risk assessment, and the cost effectiveness of our interventions given that relatively little is known regarding these key areas. The EPUAP has a pivotal role as a body able to identify these shortcomings and ensure that they will be high on the wider research agenda.

Identifying new research areas and developing clinical practice guidelines are important steps but in themselves may be insufficient to close the gap between research and clinical practice. Therefore, to maximise the likelihood of our clinical guidelines being used in clinical practice, we need coherent dissemination and implementation strategies that are both effective and efficient. The need for improved dissemination and implementation strategies in my opinion will be the most important challenge for the EPUAP in the next decade.

Thank you! Kind regards.

Tom Defloor

President