There are many different frameworks for quality improvement. However, one core principle common to them all is the idea that patients have a significant role to play in shaping and monitoring improvements.<\/span><\/p> Here we discuss a few of the talks from the International Forum 2019 in Glasgow which gave examples of how patients contribute to improving the services they use.<\/span><\/p> Bold approaches to patient empowerment<\/b><\/p> We heard a couple of great examples of how healthcare providers set up services which give power back to patients and carers.<\/span><\/p> Maria Smitmanis Lyle and Alexander Rozental from the Karolinska Institutet in Sweden shared the results from a radical project in Stockholm, which allows people living with psychosis to sign a contract enabling them to self-admit to hospital – no questions asked. The idea behind this is to increase the patients\u2019 control on the hospitalisation process, as well as encouraging them to seek help early. This experiment was something that had been instigated by people living with psychosis.<\/span><\/p> The doctors feared that it would lead to increased admissions, but in Stockholm the opposite is true \u2013 that it actually results in fewer admissions, and fewer bed days. The results are in line with<\/span> similar projects<\/span><\/a> in Norway and Denmark. \u00c5sa Steinsaphir, who has experience of psychosis and has been part of this project, says that having more control over the help she receives has enabled her to focus more on managing her own health.<\/span><\/p> Listen below to Maria, Alexander, and \u00c5sa talk more about the Stockholm project, and how patient pressure made it happen:<\/span><\/p>