If you want to rigorously discuss one of the mentioned or a related topic, you are kindly invited to send an abstract of a maximum 300 words that contains several of the insights that you want to convey. Please look at the paper itself as a prequel to your abstract. Please accompany your paper with a list of bullet points about what is new and what are, according to you, possible future developments in the specific subject. One of the aims is to provoke conversation and discussion during the congress. Your paper will be published in the special issue of 'xxxxx' and PubMed referenced.

The Journal Special Issue is accompanied by the Empathy for Health Congress, to which all authors attend. This congress will be video recorded integrally. Excerpts will be broadcast on TV and YouTube. Another suite of excerpts with fully hands-on practical aim will be put on a special DVD for which we will strive for maximum exposure. The full presentations as well as the content of the DVD and related resources will be made available on the Empathy-For-Health website. We also ask each author to make a powerpoint presentation for which we will provide further guidance and examples for the sake of harmonization and optimum quality. The format of the congress will be 30 minutes per participant + 15 minutes of questions by 2 discussants and the public. Participants can freely answer questions during their talk.

Jean-Luc Mommaerts (MD, MSc, PhDc)