Patient participation - a review of the literature

Abstract

This article presents a critical review of the concept of patient participation. The concept of patient participation has become widely accepted in contemporary nursing practice. It is now part of the vocabulary of professional nurses and has been heralded as a means of enhancing decision making and human dignity and enriching quality of life. Patient participation in care is emerging as a growing movement wherein patients are assuming more responsibility for the prevention, detection and treatment of health problems in a manner that supplements or substitutes for professional services. The review concludes with some recommendations for nursing practice, education and research.

The ward round – patient experiences and barriers to participation

“…However, the ward round routines may differ between wards at the same hospital. The meaning of patient participation differs across countries and depends on cultural heritage, social development and profession . There are also differences in the structures and practices of ward round delivery in different countries .…”

The short-term effect on alliance and satisfaction of using patient feedback scales in mental health out-patient treatment. A randomised controlled trial

“…Many have described and defined user participation [6-13]. These definitions include patients’ involvement in their own treatment [7,14], patients’ right to be involved in decision-making [9], patient’s implementation and management of their own care [12], and a change of patient role from passive recipients to active participants [15]. These definitions share one important aspect: the patient’s perspective and influence on his or her treatment.…”

“…Others have previously described interventions where patients’ rating of health status and quality of life are fed back to the providers as enhancing patient participation [17]. Given that user participation means including the patient’s perspective [7,13,14], it would be reasonable for the patient to partake in evaluation and the management of the treatment process. Since participation in the decision-making process is emphasised as a vital part of user participation [7,10,13,31], participation would mean that the patient is involved in deciding whether the current treatment should continue or be altered.…”

A dialogue-based web application enhances personalized access to healthcare professionals – an intervention study

“…how to handle the risk for long-term side effects such as incontinence. The healthcare professionals often play a significant role in this process of learning [4-8], but due to the reduced admission time at the hospital, the patients have to learn quickly. The short hospital stays have the effect that the patients’ concerns and information needs must be focused and timely.…”