German Society for Muscular Patients

The Deutsche Gesellschaft für Muskelkranke e.V. (DGM) — in English the German Society for Muscular Patients — is a non-profit registered association (gemeinnütziger Verein) and Germany's largest self-help organisation for people living with neuromuscular diseases. It was founded in 1965, originally under the name Deutsche Gesellschaft Bekämpfung der Muskelkrankheiten, and has its head office in Freiburg im Breisgau. The organisation describes itself as being there for those affected, their families and friends, and for professionals working in the field. The DGM's core work is nationwide self-help and counselling. Its federal office provides social and assistive-device (Hilfsmittel) advice and information about muscular diseases to patients and their families. The association also maintains two trial apartments that can be rented as holiday flats, where people can try out different assistive devices. It organises events and symposia for a range of target groups, and it publishes information material, including online descriptions of muscular diseases and explanatory videos on conditions such as SMA, Duchenne muscular dystrophy and FSHD. Regionally, the DGM is organised into 15 state associations (Landesverbände). Thematically, it has run diagnosis-specific groups (Diagnosegruppen) since 2011. Contact groups and discussion circles organised by volunteers give patients, relatives and interested parties the chance to exchange experiences and obtain information related to the disease and its effects. The DGM also offers a newsletter and a service to help people find the right contact person through individual filtering. Research funding is a significant part of the DGM's mission. Every year the association awards research prizes — the Duchenne-Erb Prize, the Felix-Jerusalem Prize, a junior prize, a myositis prize and the Ulrich-Brodeßer FSHD research prize — with varying endowments. In addition, the DGM organises medical congresses on a two-year cycle. The DGM is a membership-based organisation that relies on donations and member support. Its stated aim is to make life easier for people with muscular diseases, and it invites the public to help through donations, membership or other forms of support. More than 100,000 people in Germany are affected by a muscular disease, according to the organisation's own information. As a non-profit association rather than a commercial company, the DGM occupies a distinct position in the German health landscape: it is a patient advocacy and self-help body, not a manufacturer or retailer, though it is a well-known and trusted brand within the neuromuscular disease community.

The Deutsche Gesellschaft für Muskelkranke e.V. (DGM) was founded in 1965, originally under the name Deutsche Gesellschaft Bekämpfung der Muskelkrankheiten (German Society for Combating Muscular Diseases). It is a non-profit registered association (gemeinnütziger Verein) with its seat in Freiburg im Breisgau, and it has grown into Germany's largest self-help organisation for people with muscular and neuromuscular diseases. From its beginnings, the DGM combined direct support for patients and families with efforts to advance research. Its federal office (Bundesgeschäftsstelle) developed a counselling service covering social and assistive-device matters, and the association built a nationwide structure. Today it is organised regionally into 15 state associations (Landesverbände), which carry the self-help work into the federal states. A thematic layer was added in 2011 with the creation of diagnosis-specific groups (Diagnosegruppen), allowing people with the same condition to connect across regional boundaries. Alongside these, volunteer-run contact groups and discussion circles provide local exchange for patients, relatives and interested parties. The DGM has also invested in practical services. It maintains two trial apartments that can be rented as holiday flats, giving people the opportunity to try out different assistive devices in a real-life setting. It publishes information material, including online descriptions of muscular diseases and explanatory videos on conditions such as SMA, Duchenne muscular dystrophy and FSHD, and it runs events and symposia for different target groups. Research funding has been a continuous thread. The association awards annual research prizes — the Duchenne-Erb Prize, the Felix-Jerusalem Prize, a junior prize, a myositis prize and the Ulrich-Brodeßer FSHD research prize — with varying endowments. It also organises medical congresses on a two-year cycle, bringing together clinicians, researchers and patients. Over its history the DGM has become a recognised voice for the neuromuscular disease community in Germany. Its work is supported by memberships and donations, and it describes its mission as making life easier for people with muscular diseases. According to the organisation, more than 100,000 people in Germany are affected by a muscular disease, underscoring the scale of the community it serves.

• 2011

  Diagnosis-specific groups (Diagnosegruppen) established.

• 1965

  Founded as Deutsche Gesellschaft Bekämpfung der Muskelkrankheiten.

Germany's largest self-help organisation for people with neuromuscular diseases, providing counselling, community, information and research funding as a non-profit association.

• Social and assistive-device counselling

  Advice and information for patients and families provided by the federal office.

• Trial apartments

  Two apartments rentable as holiday flats where different assistive devices can be tried out.

• Information materials and videos

  Online descriptions of muscular diseases and explanatory videos on SMA, Duchenne muscular dystrophy, FSHD and others.

• Research prizes

  Annual prizes including the Duchenne-Erb Prize, Felix-Jerusalem Prize, junior prize, myositis prize and Ulrich-Brodeßer FSHD research prize.

• Medical congresses

  Organised on a two-year cycle.

1. 1Willkommen bei der Deutschen Gesellschaft für Muskelkranke e.V. (DGM)dgm.org
2. 2Deutsche Gesellschaft für Muskelkranke – Wikipediade.wikipedia.org
3. 3German Society for Muscular Patients – Wikidatawikidata.org