Gálvez gave a talk in which he expressed the need, in the current environment, to focus research upon patients’ requirements. He also explained the benefits of generating research questions based on patient and family needs by presenting three examples of creating joint strategies with patients and their families in respect of information, healthcare policies and needs analysis. He concluded by speaking about the difficulty of assessing the impact of these strategies and the challenges in the search for indicators capable of evaluating the effect of patient participation.