As affiliate of the Swiss Cancer Center Leman (SCCL), the Patient Lab innovates and promotes a transdisciplinary partnership with cancer patients, caregivers, and public representatives at all stages of research and development of new or improved models of support and care.

Affiliating the Patient Lab with the existing SCCL research & clinical platforms aims to

• empower each other's innovation through cutting edge interactions between researchers, patients and the public
• improve public and patient involvement in research activities, and thus their adherence to studies
• develop and enhance joint PPI capacities
• enable the development of transdisciplinary oncology research projects that deliberately and systematically involve public and patients, and lead to quality improvement initiatives in clinical care

Initially, the Patient Lab focuses on the development of Patient-Reported Outcomes Measures (PROMs) and Patient-Reported Experience Measures (PREMs) in cancer research and care.

The SCCL-PPI model has been developed based on a literature review that was conducted to identify existing frameworks in cancer research internationally.

Nine models from seven different countries were taken into consideration - leading us to propose a model that is adapted to the specific needs of our local context: French-speaking Switzerland.

To learn more about the development of the SCCL-PPI model, we invite you to take a look at our website as well as the article we published in the Revue Médicale Suisse.

STAGES: Patients and the public can be involved at all stages of the research process, and in one or more phases of a research project .

LEVELS: In the context of the SCCL-PPI model, and based on the type of research envisioned, we define 4 different levels of patient involvement in research.

TYPES & ROLES: Patients' roles vary according to the contributions a patient is able to offer. To use patient knowledge to the best effect, ways must be found to convert the diversity of individual experience into the closest representation of a typified patient perspective. The patient voice must be a blend of collective and personal experiences. A way to overcome this is to include more than one patient and covering more than one type of involvement.

CAPABILITIES & CAPACITY: Furthermore, the decision regarding the stage, level, and type of involvement requires a careful evaluation of the capabilities of the patients as well as the capacity of the research group or organization.