Stakeholder engagement

Every day, numerous people donate biosamples in German hospitals and thereby support medical advancements. But the need for information considering the storage of biosamples and their usage is evident – this is the conclusion of a survey conducted by the German Biobank Node (GBN). As biobanks need the support of patients and test persons, the latter should be informed proactively about the work of biobanks. GBN has therefore developed recommendations for biobanks on how to communicate with donors as well as information material. The “Communication Toolkit” consists of a series of posters and flyers, which biobanks use at their sites and in the hospitals they are affiliated to. Moreover, the website www.biobanken-verstehen.de provides further information about the work of biobanks and about donating biospecimens.