After a long build up towards the European Congress on Obesity coming to Dublin it is hard to believe it is actually over. Where do we even begin with reflections on this inspiring four days?
We had actually 16 in total from our ICPO team there. All with different levels of involvement. From our chair of the Board of Directors (also ECPO executive Director) who led the organising of the 58 advocates to attend, and presented many times, to advocates who have never attended a congress of this size ever before and listened and learned. All attended each day from 8am to 6pm and shared their experiences and met all the European advocates who were there. This included attending ECPO training sessions where they learned and asked questions. Valuable for bringing back to support groups and sharing this knowledge. We had our magazine and banners on display. The delegate feedback was that the patient engagement at the congress was powerful. We were proud of our own poster for the student stigma education sessions we deliver and others for researchers we work with. When we meet and get all the individual feedback and key learnings from our team, we will post on our website in more detail. For now the photos themselves paint the picture and we will take a couple of days to unwind and digest it all. A huge thank you to ECPO for facilitating and inviting us to be there. And to EASO and ASOI too. The collaboration and support from these organisations is what has encouraged and empowered our team along the way.
Our ICPO team at ECO :
Vicki Mooney, Teena Gates, Ben Whelan, Linda Smyth.
Susie Birney, Maura Murphy, Bernadette Keenan, Catherine O’Sullivan, Deirdre Murphy, Eoin O’Connell, Bernie Walsh, Marion Bagnall, Laurence Hoey, Suzanne Shiels, Yvonne Byrne, Aoife Vickers.
