By Mari-Mette Graff, European Coalition for People Living with Obesity (ECPO), Patient Lead in the CarePath project.
Following ECO 2026, CarePath partner Mari-Mette Graff, representing the European Coalition for People Living with Obesity (ECPO, reflects on the congress discussions around obesity, integrated care and patient engagement – and what they mean for the CarePath project as it moves towards its pilot phase.
The way we understand, discuss, and treat complex health conditions is shifting. The European Congress on Obesity (#ECO2026) in Istanbul has just concluded. Discussions among healthcare professionals, researchers, and patient organizations left no room for doubt: healthcare systems must stop treating chronic conditions in a fragmented, piecemeal manner.
This shift was a core focus at ECPO’s patient-centred symposium, "«Input to Impact – Patients as Risk Managers, not just storytellers"». As part of the team at the European Coalition for People Living with Obesity (ECPO), which proudly holds the role of Patient Lead for the European CarePath project, we used this powerful session to highlight how CarePath actively addresses this transition.
I left Istanbul with a deep sense of both optimism and urgent impatience. It is high time we build bridges between top-tier medical research and the actual daily lives of the people it affects. In my role representing ECPO within the consortium, I am dedicated to ensuring this translation happens.
Political Apprehension and Everyday Stigma
Through my work as leader of the Norwegian Association for People Living with Obesity (LFO) and my involvement with ECPO, I witness daily how individuals with obesity and related cardiometabolic conditions are met by society. We see a deafening political silence and apprehension surrounding one of the greatest public health challenges of our time. All too often, complex biological conditions are reduced to simplistic narratives about “prevention” and individual lifestyle choices.
It is this deep injustice, the everyday stigma, and the fragmented patient pathways that we are now directly confronting. As we emphasized during our symposium, patients possess critical expertise that must actively manage risks in healthcare systems, rather than just serving as emotional anecdotes.
«Living with a chronic condition is about far more than medication – it is a daily, human experience that requires deep understanding, accessible tools, and a guarantee that the patient’s voice is actually heard.»
— Mari-Mette Graff, representing ECPO as Patient Lead in CarePath
Three Key Lessons From Istanbul
The insights from ECO 2026 and the dialogue driving our «Input to Impact» session underscore three vital principles that define the path forward for European healthcare:
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A complex biological reality: Obesity is fully recognized as a chronic, relapsing disease that requires long-term, medical, and holistic support over time. We must move permanently away from individual blame toward structural solutions.
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Strong health interconnections: Metabolic and cardiovascular health are deeply linked. Obesity rarely occurs in isolation; it is closely intertwined with the development of type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease. This demands unified healthcare pathways, not isolated interventions.
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Continuity of care: While modern medical treatments offer ground-breaking new opportunities, clinical interventions alone cannot solve everything. The pressing need forward is creating sustainable healthcare pathways and supportive environments that enable long-term continuity of care in daily life.
CarePath: Aligning the Map with the Terrain
In academia and medical research, beautiful maps are often drawn. But for me, project work is not about theoretical models; it is about bringing the real terrain that patients navigate directly into research and healthcare systems. The map must align with the terrain.
This is exactly the gap CarePath aims to bridge. Foundedby the Innovative Health Initiative (IHI), our consortium is developing a flexible, person-centered, digital “plug-and-play” toolkit. The project aims to empower individuals to navigate their health journey on their own terms.
We are now moving into the next phase of the project, where pilot studies will be rolled out across Europe. The experiences, expertise, and invaluable insights shared by patient organizations in Istanbul—and cemented during our own ECPO symposium—will form the very foundation of this testing phase.
Health is about so much more than weight. Representing ECPO as the Patient Lead, I will continue to fight for an evidence-based approach where lived experience is treated as true expertise—ensuring patients act as active risk managers driving the tools we create.