A team of the Lucerne University of Applied Sciences, lead by Prof. Suzanne Lischer, was tasked to evaluate our project of integrating self-help friendliness in hospitals all over Switzerland (during the project phase from 2021-2024). They published their findings in an article in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health on the 14th april 2026.
They found that integrating self-help friendliness within healthcare systems is feasible and that
- Formalized cooperation structures may be linked to behavioral and cultural changes among hospital staff
- Staff members reported gradually incorporating cooperation and responsibilities
into daily routines, informing patients about self-help groups on a frequent basis - staff members percieved self-help groups as a complementary to professional healthcare (both inpatient care and aftercare)
- coordination structures were embedded in everyday practice.
They also found challenges that need to be adressed when it comes to cooperation between healthcare professionals and institutions and patients organized in self-help structures:
- asymmetries persist in professional - lay collaboration, which underscores the need for continuous reflexion to ensure equitable cooperation. Future initiatives should include structured feedback mechanisms, training for both professionals and SHG representatives, and monitoring of collaborative processes
- institutional volatility—such as staff turnover and leadership changes—undermined the continuity of collaboration in several hospitals. Professional responsibility and leadership
commitment are complementary and essential for sustainability. - sustaining self-help-groups' (SHG) and volunteer engagement remains an ongoing challenge. SHG members often reach the limits of their voluntary resources, especially because many of them live with one or more chronic conditions. Therefore, involving
SHG members in quality circles and providing symbolic acknowledgment or financial
recognition are crucial for maintaining engagement and long-term effectiveness.
They conclude that
- integrating patient-centeredness, participation, and
structural collaboration into hospital settings is feasible and can be sustainable, provided it is guided by a clearly articulated self-help friendliness framework that includes defined
quality criteria and a catalog of measures. - The observed improvements in coordination and involvement of SHGs suggest that such an approach can effectively shape healthcare professionals’ knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors.
- Sustained success, however, depends on stable institutional structures, designated contact persons, and committed leadership.
- Equally important is the genuine recognition of SHG engagement as a form of lay expertise
grounded in lived experience.
This study suggests that implementing the six quality criteria of the
self-help friendliness framework can support the involvement of SHGs as a complementary
service in healthcare.
To read the entire article, click here.