Liesbeth Moortgat © ECCO

On the evening of Wednesday, February 14, 26 nurses from 17 countries across Europe participated in our yearly N-ECCO National Representatives Meeting.  

As N-ECCO Committee Member responsible for the National Representatives, Liesbeth Moortgat welcomed the attendees, and this was followed by a short round of introductions. Belgium, Croatia, Finland, Slovenia, Poland and the United Kingdom were happy to present their new National Representatives. An exchange of nurses every 2–3 years is greatly encouraged by N-ECCO, but many countries nevertheless retain the same National Representatives for more than 3 years. New people tend to mean new ideas!

Kay Greveson © ECCO

The cultural city of Vienna welcomed the participants of the 12^th N-ECCO Network Meeting this year. 

N-ECCO Chair Palle Bager (Denmark) opened the Network Meeting by welcoming 275 nurses and dietitians from across the world who share the goal of developing care for people with IBD globally. The first session focused on the role of the Inflammatory Bowel Disease nurse specialist. Isobel Mason (UK) discussed the value of the IBD nurse and how to promote the role across Europe, including how to audit your service and provide a detailed job plan. She also presented a new healthcare professional website developed by Crohn’s and Colitis UK, which has numerous resources to support the IBD nurse. 

Susanna Jäghult © ECCO

This year 92 nurses with a special interest in research participated in the 5^th N-ECCO Research Forum in Vienna. The participants were a fine mix of experienced nurse researchers and nurses new to research. The meeting itself offered a combination of plenary and interactive sessions and workshops.

The Forum was opened by Susanna Jäghult (Sweden), who co-chaired with Palle Bager (Denmark). The first session addressed practical issues in research.

Usha Chauhan © ECCO

The 9^th N-ECCO School in Vienna was well attended, attracting 62 participants, including 11 dietitians, from 24 countries. This year the learning objectives were published online, next to the programme. The School covered a range of IBD topics for both nurses and dietitians who work with IBD patients. The aim of the School is to enhance basic knowledge in a clear and precise manner in order to enable nurses and dietitians new to IBD, or those with an interest in the subject, to provide better support to IBD patients throughout Europe and beyond. In addition, the N-ECCO School has come to serve as a great networking opportunity for both nurses and dietitians, enabling them to share experiences and plans for furthering their careers and demonstrating the importance of a multidisciplinary approach to IBD care.

Christian Maaser © ECCO

The downside of ECCO´s clear and strict rules regarding terms of committee membership is that we regularly have to say goodbye to very dear colleagues who have done a tremendous amount of work during their term and have been very reliable colleagues and become good friends. Now, it is necessary to say “goodbye and thank you” to Gionata Fiorino, who invested an enormous amount of time in GuiCom projects during his 4-year GuiCom term. 

Joana Torres © ECCO

Inflammatory Bowel Disease is a chronic disease in which both medical and psychological factors have a major impact on several domains of the patient’s quality of life. Patients with IBD report higher levels of psychological and emotional distress, fatigue, anxiety, centrally mediated abdominal pain, depression and sleep disturbance. These complex complaints require integrative and appropriate management. Psychotherapies and body-mind interventions may have a beneficial impact on coping skills and stress management, but their efficacy and best use remain matters of debate. 

Giovanni Maconi © ECCO

Participating speakers and tutors: Anil Kumar Asthana (Australia), Arun Gupta (United Kingdom), Christian Maaser (Germany), Emma Calabrese (Italy), Francesca Maccioni (Italy) Jordi Rimola (Spain), Jaap Stoker (The Netherlands), Kerry Novak (Canada), Michael Torkzad (United Kingdom), Pietro Paolantonio (Italy), Rune Wilkens (Denmark), Torsten Kucharzik (Germany), Stephan Vavricka (Switzerland), Andrea Laghi (Italy) and Giovanni Maconi (Italy)

Giovanni Maconi © ECCO

Participating speakers and chairs: Simon Travis (United Kingdom), Raf Bisschops (Belgium), Raya Atreya (Germany), Peter Irving (United Kingdom), James Lindsay (United Kingdom), Matthieu Allez (France), Massimo Fantini (Italy) and Peter Lakatos (Hungary)

The ECCO Endoscopy Workshop reached its 3^rd edition in 2018 and has become a mainstay of the educational activities of ECCO. The workshop was organised by the Educational Committee (EduCom) and was designed to meet the needs of IBD specialists with some experience in endoscopy. 

Pascal Juillerat © ECCO

The 16^th Intensive Advanced IBD Course took place before the ECCO meeting as the highlight of the educational program which runs in conjunction with the conference.

This well-known course, which has been an a staple of the ECCO Congress almost since the beginning of ECCO, took place once again with a full attendance from Europe and abroad. Overall, 82 doctors attended the course from 37 countries and were treated to a comprehensive update on IBD.

Naila Arebi © ECCO

An introduction to pharmaco-epidemiology: How to interpret real world data for clinical practice 

The Epidemiological Committee (EpiCom) organised their 4^th workshop at the ECCO’18 Congress in Vienna.  Delegates were welcomed by Ebbe Langholz, who introduced the sessions with a short video on the UR-CARE database to illustrate the importance of databases and their potential across Europe.