The “Safor Salut” cooperation program—a joint initiative of Campus Gandia of the Universitat Politècnica de València (UPV), FISABIO–Gandia Health Department, FISABIO-HACLE La Pedrera and the Safor Federation of Business Associations (FAES)—has organized its second Citizen Science–focused workshop, engaging healthcare professionals working with fibromyalgia and chronic pain.
Chronic pain linked to fibromyalgia is a major global health challenge, profoundly impacting the daily lives of those affected and presenting ongoing difficulties for healthcare professionals.
As part of the initiatives developed by Safor Salut, efforts have focused on identifying unmet needs and key challenges to drive the creation of innovative projects in the health sector. This approach aims to tackle specific challenges by actively involving healthcare.
Despite advances in technology and therapy, significant gaps persist in the diagnosis and treatment of fibromyalgia. This reality underscores the need to promote initiatives that enhance our understanding of the disease and its impact, with the aim of driving research and innovation projects focused on improving disease management and patients’ quality of life.
The event aimed to inform and explore the Patient Journey Map from the perspective of healthcare professionals, tracing the path from initial symptom onset to diagnosis and ongoing treatment of fibromyalgia and chronic pain. Key areas for improvement were identified, offering valuable insights into patients’ experiences and needs throughout their journey.
The workshop was led by technical teams from Fisabio, Campus Gandia (UPV), and FAES, and featured active participation from healthcare professionals across various specialties and Health Departments in the Valencian Community—including Hospital Universitari Francesc de Borja (Gandia), Hospital del Vinalopó, Hospital de Elche, Hospital de la Ribera, Manises Health Centre, Hospital San Vicente del Raspeig—as well as representatives from institutions such as the Catholic University of Valencia. Additionally, the session was facilitated by the Open Science Unit at Fisabio.
Citizen Science Workshop Series
Citizen Science workshops focus on initiatives where citizens actively contribute to scientific research—whether by sharing their lived experience with the disease, identifying real-world needs, offering contextual knowledge, or providing tools and resources
A series of four workshops will be conducted, each exploring a unique perspective.
The first workshop focused on the needs and lived experiences of patient associations, individuals with the condition, and their families throughout the course of the illness.
This second workshop explored the perspectives of healthcare professionals involved in the diagnosis and treatment process.
The third workshop will review the key insights from the previous sessions and identify the challenges to be tackled in the upcoming workshop.
The fourth and final workshop in the series will be a creative session focused on collaboratively developing projects that address the challenges identified in earlier workshops.
Throughout the process, the situation will be thoroughly analyzed to generate diverse perspectives and propose various solutions. The goal is to foster collaborative research and innovation projects involving researchers, healthcare professionals, university staff, companies, and other experts, with active patient participation from the very beginning.
New Ideas and Challenges
If you have a project idea and require a partner from the healthcare, university, or business sector to execute it, submit your idea to saforsalut.es/ideas-retos. We’ll assist you in finding suitable partners. Additionally, you can explore the ideas submitted by others and actively participate by contributing to their implementation.
SAFOR SALUT TEAM
Campus Gandia (UPV): Pilar Sánchez | psanche@upv.es Isabel Fambuena | isfammue@upv.es
Fisabio: María Prada | maria.prada@fisabio.es, Amparo Arlandis | amparo.arlandis@fisabio.es, Amparo Estruch |amparo.estruch@fisabio.es,
Empresas-FAES: Josep Miquel Juan| mjuan@cev.es Fina López | info@faesafor.com
