The integration of a person-centered approach in palliative care

The philosophy underlying palliative care places the respect of patients and their autonomy at the heart of clinical practice. A study was conducted at a palliative care facility to document changes that occurred after the integration of a person-centered approach focusing on human freedom (which is linked to autonomy): the humanbecoming school of thought. It aimed to describe changes observed in the beliefs and practices of healthcare providers, the concept and respect of autonomy by healthcare providers, care and respect of autonomy experienced by patients' relatives, and consideration of patients' wishes through their documentation.

The method adopted consisted of a pre-project - process - post-project descriptive qualitative design and was inspired by teaching-learning and mentoring models. Data were collected from 51 healthcare providers and 10 relatives through semistructured interviews and from the medical records of 30 patients during the pre- and post-project phases. They were analyzed and compared at the end of the study. The process phase consisted of offering training sessions and mentoring, encouraging the involvement of healthcare providers, and cocreating integration and care tools.

While the analysis exposed some discrepancies with the language of the approach and differences between nurses and other healthcare providers, it revealed, above all, similarities in the changes observed between the different sources of data. The focus moved from being task-centered to being person-centered; the affirmation of the priority of respecting patients' choices, desires, and needs; a presence shifting from being available to true listening; the affirmation of following the ever-changing rhythm of the patient; and a notion of respect of autonomy now including the other.

In line with the philosophy of palliative care, the project demonstrated that the integration of the humanbecoming approach can result in changes that contribute to the development of a more person-centered practice.