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Published on: February 16, 2011
A wide vocabulary for person-centred care
Polly Mitchell1, Alan Cribb1, Vikki Entwistle2
1Centre for Public Policy Research, King's College London, London, UK.
Abstract:
Many different words and phrases are used to describe healthcare that treats patients as people. Do terms such as 'person centred', 'patient centred', 'people centred' and 'personalised' mean broadly the same thing or do they refer to distinct concepts? Should we prefer one over the others? In this essay, we set out the value and limitations of some of the different terms used to describe what we broadly refer to as 'person-centred care'. We offer a critical conceptual analysis of the most commonly used words and phrases in this domain, exploring how they differ from, and relate to, one another. We argue that there is value in retaining a wide vocabulary: the distinctive emphasis and connotations of different terms allow us to communicate about this multifaceted area of research and practice with nuance and context sensitivity.
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