Reflecting on patient-centred care in pharmacy through an illness narrative

Patient-centred care (PCC) is rapidly adopting a central position in discussions on the quality of healthcare, with patient-centredness deemed essential to transforming the healthcare system. PCC speaks to the quality of patient-provider relationships and has been defined as an approach to providing care that is respectful of and responsive to individual patient preferences, needs, and values, while ensuring that patient values guide all clinical decisions. However its place within pharmacy practice is unclear and is as yet undefined, particularly in relation to pharmaceutical care. Through my personal illness narrative, I briefly explore the visibility and evidence of PCC in the pharmacy literature as well as from personal experience of pharmacy care, and find it lacking. I conclude that an integrated, seamless understanding of PCC and the use of shared language within the health professions is essential in successful teamwork with both the patient and with other health professions.