Expert Patients Programme

The Expert Patients Programme is a free six week course for anyone living with any long-term health condition(s).

This course aims to give people the confidence to take more responsibility and self-manage their health, whilst encouraging them to work collaboratively with health and social care professionals.

The sessions are facilitated by trained and accredited tutors who are themselves living with a long-term condition.  The course also has a number of accredited bilingual tutors, who deliver the courses in community languages, e.g. Bengali, in a culturally appropriate manner.

Course participants learn new skills to help them with the daily management of their health condition, learn how to develop more effective relationships with healthcare professionals, as well as meeting others who share similar experiences.

Course participants also learn to:

• Manage pain and extreme tiredness
• Cope with feelings of depression
• Relaxation techniques and exercise
• Healthy eating
• Communicate with family, friends and professionals
• Plan for the future.

In a randomised trial of the Expert Patients Programme carried out by the National Primary Care Research and Development Centre, researchers found:

• Increases in people’s confidence to manage their condition
• Gains in energy
• High satisfaction with the course
• Improvements in psychological wellbeing
• Improvements in partnerships with doctors.

For more details please call the Expert Patients Programme CIC on Freephone 0800 988 5550 or contact us by email today.

What course participants say

Georgie - Newcastle

"My life has been transformed over the last two years and I can say with absolute certainty that I owe it all to the Expert Patients Programme."

Georgie Foord has had fibromyalgia since 1997 and was coping well with her exercise regime and careful diet. Attending an EPP course in 2003 helped her to achieve her goal of publishing her own work.

More on Georgie 's story

Enquiry form