About the partnership
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Seeing the patient as a partner is the basis of all person-centred care.
The partnership involves respecting and utilising the patient’s knowledge of themselves and their wishes as regards their health. In addition, professionals can provide better and more adapted care if they understand the patient’s perceptions and experience, situation and health goals. Being involved in decisions concerning one’s own life and body is a human right.
The partnership also means that the patient has a responsibility for their own care. The more active someone is in their treatment, rehabilitation or preventative measures, the greater the chances they have of living a healthier life. Research shows that the time professionals spend listening to the patient and planning care together with the patient pays for itself several times over in the form of shorter hospital stays and more reassured patients with a greater confidence in their own capability.
Person-centering on the person does not mean that patients become “customers” or that health and social care is being adapted entirely to suit their wishes. The partnership involves collective responsibility in which the expertise on both sides is utilised: on the one hand, the patient’s knowledge about themselves and their situation and, on the other, the professionals’ knowledge of diagnostics, nursing, treatment, rehabilitation and evidence-based knowledge.
Today we often hear patients talk about how they feel like they are at a disadvantage or that they are not being listened to. Making the patient an active partner helps us break this pattern.
Mutual understanding and agreements between the two parties are vital for the partnership. These agreements must be carried out in a way that that engages the patients, the caregivers, and the patient’s next of kin and should encourage all parties to participate actively.