[Self-help meets science: Patient participation in guideline development].

This article describes the development and current state of collective self-help in Germany, which is unique in Europe. It has received high recognition from both our society and the state, e. g., in the form of mandatory funding of self-help through the statutory health insurance funds. Since 2004, patient participation in the decision-making bodies of the self-governed German health care system has also been statutorily regulated, first of all in the so called "Joint Federal Committee". The relationship between doctors' organisations, such as the German Medical Association (Bundesärztekammer), the National Association of Statutory Health In-surance Physicians together with the Regional Associations of Statutory Health In-surance Physicians (Kassenärztliche Bundesvereinigung), and the scientific medical societies, has also shifted towards more cooperation, and specific bodies have been set up to this end. Finally, the Agency for Quality in Medicine (AQuMed, ÄZQ) and the Association of Scientific Medical Societies (AWMF) have contributed enormously to the involvement of patient representatives in guideline development groups. The author shares his personal experience in the closing section.