Patient-centered approaches to health care: a systematic review of randomized controlled trials

There is growing interest in patient-centered care, but there is little guidance about the interventions required for its delivery and whether it leads to better health outcomes. This systematic review evaluates the efficacy of patient-centered care interventions for people with chronic conditions. Thirty randomized controlled trials were identified from health-related databases. The findings indicated that most interventions were based on the notion of empowering care and included attempts to educate consumers or prompt them about how to manage a health consultation. Other common interventions focused on training providers in delivering empowering care. Although it was difficult to draw firm conclusions because of the moderate to high risk of bias of the research designs, this review has shown some promising findings from implementing a patient-centered care approach. There appeared to be benefits associated with this model of care in terms of patient satisfaction and perceived quality of care.