The "European Pressure Ulcer Advisory Panel" was created in London in December 1996 to lead and support all European countries in the efforts to prevent and treat pressure ulcers. At its inaugural meeting in London in December 1996, which included experts from many European countries, the group of over twenty agreed their mission statement and the initial Executive Board and Trustees.
The mission statement reads:
"To provide the relief of persons suffering from or at risk of pressure ulcers, in particular through research and the education of the public and by influencing pressure ulcer policy in all European countries towards an adequate patient centred and cost effective pressure ulcer care "
A very important activity for the EPUAP is our annual conference. These meetings are aimed at bringing together clinical care practitioners, researchers and people from industry, to discuss the current status of the problem in Europe and the world and to discuss new developments in pressure ulcer prevention, treatment and care.
EPUAP has given support to prevalence studies, dissemination of educational tools (PUCLAS) and has formed international working groups on different subjects relevant for pressure ulcer prevention and treatment. The EPUAP also produced an academic textbook on pressure ulcers.
Already in the early years of the existence of EPUAP we have developed guidelines for pressure ulcer prevention and treatment that were used all over Europe.
Five years ago we started together with the NPUAP an initiative to develop new, evidence based guidelines, which has been a major project requiring an enormous effort from trustees, members and stakeholders. This resulted in the guidelines that were presented at our meeting in September 2009 in Amsterdam.
Our top priorities for the next decade will be:
- to assist with implementation of the guidelines in different countries and to update the guidelines where necessary
- a growth of the society and increased representation across Europe
- to improve the visibility of EPUAP,
- to strengthen the research profile and to play an important role in awareness and education