The patients' voice: testimonies from patients suffering from chronic disease.

Abstract A medical congress brings together those doctors who are interested in the proposed theme of that particular congress. Within the congress ‘Patient Education 2000’ an unusual aspect was the presentation, in the form of posters, of the requirements of patients suffering from one of the diseases or conditions covered by the congress. On the one hand, these posters showed the impact of the illness; on the psychological aspect, within the family, within the professional and social lives as well as the financial aspect. On the other hand, the posters showed what the patients really wanted to say to the health care team. In this paper we present a synthesis illustrating certain significant examples.