Respect, compassion and responsiveness to individuals are increasingly used as a key indicators of quality of care, and are essential components of improving healthcare systems.
Over the last decade, there has also been an increasing focus on supporting people to be more involved in their care and in tailoring services around the needs of individuals. Bundling all of these initiatives of empathy, individualization and patient-involvement is the term ‘Person Centered Care’; including efforts not only engaging patients but also their family members and caregivers.
It is now widely recognized that person-centered care can be used to define and improve outcomes and indeed to focus health and care resources. And with good reason; when patients have a positive experience with healthcare staff and services, all stakeholders benefit – patients, healthcare professionals, the provider organization, and the healthcare system.
Respectful treatment, adequate information and communication, respect for autonomy and involvement, clean and curative environments all make patients’ experience positive and are also important for providing good care. A vast amount of research demonstrates that good patient and staff experience leads to good health outcomes related to clinical effectiveness and safety as well as patient loyalty.
Expectations of healthcare professionals with respect to their employing organization are changing. They expect their organizations to support them in providing high-quality care and a good experience to their patients. They also want healthy and efficient workplace environments that enhance both the well-being of patients, and their own well-being. And it is easy to understand how the well-being of health professionals can impact good patient outcomes.
