List of publications related to the COST Action

Notable scientific publications of the CostCares members:

Abstract

Background

To empower patients and improve the quality of care, policy‐makers increasingly adopt systems to enhance person‐centred care. Although models of person‐centredness and patient‐centredness vary, respecting the needs and preferences of individuals receiving care is paramount. In Sweden, as in other countries, healthcare providers seek to improve person‐centred principles and address gaps in practice. Consequently, researchers at the University of Gothenburg Centre for Person‐Centred Care are currently delivering person‐centred interventions employing a framework that incorporates three routines. These include eliciting the patient’s narrative, agreeing a partnership with shared goals between patient and professional, and safeguarding this through documentation.

Aim

To explore the barriers and facilitators to the delivery of person‐centred care interventions, in different contexts.

Method

Qualitative interviews were conducted with a purposeful sample of 18 researchers from seven research studies across contrasting healthcare settings. Interviews were transcribed, translated and thematically analysed, adopting some basic features of grounded theory.

Ethical issues

The ethical code of conduct was followed and conformed to the ethical guidelines adopted by the Swedish Research Council.

Results

Barriers to the implementation of person‐centred care covered three themes: traditional practices and structures; sceptical, stereotypical attitudes from professionals; and factors related to the development of person‐centred interventions. Facilitators included organisational factors, leadership and training and an enabling attitude and approach by professionals. Trained project managers, patients taking an active role in research and adaptive strategies by researchers all helped person‐centred care delivery.

Conclusion

At the University of Gothenburg, a model of person‐centred care is being initiated and integrated into practice through research. Knowledgeable, well‐trained professionals facilitate the routines of narrative elicitation and partnership. Strong leadership and adaptive strategies are important for overcoming existing practices, routines and methods of documentation. This study provides guidance for practitioners when delivering and adapting person‐centred care in different contexts.

Background
Person-centred care (PCC) is increasingly advocated as a new way of delivering health care, but there is little evidence that it is widely practised. The University of Gothenburg Centre for Person-Centred Care (GPCC) was set up in 2010 to develop and implement person-centred care in clinical practice on the basis of three routines. These routines are based on eliciting the patient’s narrative to initiate a partnership; working the partnership to achieve commonly agreed
goals; and using documentation to safeguard the partnership and record the person’s narrative and shared goals.

Objective
In this paper, we aimed to explore professionals’ understanding of PCC routines as they implement the GPCC model in a
range of different settings.

Methods
We conducted a qualitative study and interviewed 18 clinician-researchers from five health-care professions who were working in seven diverse GPCC projects.

Results
Interviewees’ accounts of PCC emphasized the ways in which persons are seen as different from patients; the variable emphasis placed on the person’s goals; and the role of the person’s own resources in building partnerships.

Conclusion
This study illustrates what is needed for health-care professionals to implement PCC in everyday practice: the recognition of the person is as important as the specific practical routines. Interviewees described the need to change the clinical mindset and to develop the ways of integrating people’s narratives with clinical practice.

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