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The OTC SOCIOMED website (http://www.otcsociomed.uoc.gr), through which general information on the project was made available to the public, played a major role in the dissemination of the project activities and results. It was launched in February 2010 and continuously populated and updated with content during the lifetime of the project. Practically every public result of the project was available at the website including the project posters, publications, workshop programs, conference presentations and other events. In addition to the public website, the OTC SOCIOMED website served also as a collaborative tool for data sharing during the course of the project and featured a password protected area with restricted access to OTC SOCIOMED members. The website remain operational under the website of the coordinating centre.

Peer-reviewed scientific publications were also part of the OTC SOCIOMED dissemination activities. One paper was submitted for publication to a peer-review scientific journal (Evaluation and The Health Professions) and two scientific papers are currently in manuscript planned to be submitted in the next month (one is planned to be submitted to Family Practice in the first week of August 2012 and the second one reporting on the results of the feasibility study will be submitted to the journal of BMC Family Practice). The OTC SOCIOMED study results were presented in five national and European conferences addressing various audiences in the areas of medicine, pharmacy, health policy, health economics, and others.

 OTC SOCIOMED workshops were held in various European countries (e.g. Greece, Turkey, Austria) as part of major scientific events (e.g. Annual Greek Congress on Health Economics, Annual Conference of the Turkish Association of Family Physicians, WONCA European Annual Conference, etc). A total of six workshops were organized to discuss the project results from different perspectives according to the audience of the conference. The agenda and the slides of the workshop presentations are available at the OTC SOCIOMED website.

 Exhibitions at large scientific events were also used to disseminate the project’s results. OTC SOCIOMED stands were prepared for WONCA Europe Annual Conferences in Warsaw 2011 and in Vienna 2012, a major event of the European network of family physicians with great numbers of attendees of biomedical disciplines from all over the world, where dissemination activities have been hosted in the WONCA Europe booth. These stands included posters of the project and relevant information on its implementation. Executive summaries of the project were also communicated to the Executive Board of WONCA Europe at different time periods including the last council meeting in Vienna in order to discuss the findings as part of their forthcoming activities and introduce the OTC SOCIOMED topic in their future agenda.

 A set of recommendations for policy implementation were developed on the evidence generated by the OTC SOCIOMED project and was distributed via e-mail to all the stakeholders identified through the mapping process. This action, which is ongoing, aimed to inform all stakeholders about the knowledge gained through the project and ensure the transfer of knowledge into everyday clinical and pharmaceutical practice as well as the introduction of key and missing issues in the agenda of policy makers. The recommendations provided important information to different stakeholders such as professional groups (e.g. Cyprus Medical Association for Primary Care) and networks of health professionals (e.g. World Organization of Family Doctors – WONCA; European GP Research Network - EGPRN), academic and research organizations (e.g. Department of General Practice, Charles University Prague, Czech Republic), Quality Assessment Organizations (e.g. European Network for Health Technology Assessment -EUnetHTA), International Agencies for Medicines (e.g. World Health Organization), Authorization and Regulatory Agencies for Medicines (e.g. Greek National Organization for Medicine) and drug industry (e.g. Association of the European Self-Medication Industry - AESGP­) in order to develop and implement health policies and legislation to support comprehensive care. The recommendations conveyed key messages and guidance for the design and implementation of national medicines programmes to improve medicines use as well as national level interventions. Relevant material with the practical guidelines/recommendations, published papers and abstracts are planned to be uploaded on the websites of both WONCA World and WONCA Europe.

 In summary, this project achieved to discuss its main findings in different symposia and conferences and most importantly it managed to raise this challenging subject in many stakeholders in the health and other relevant sectors. The OTC SOCIOMED results are expected to receive a prompt attention by certain European, regional and national policies.