Supporting Innovative Person-Centred Care in Financially Constrained Environments: The WE CARE Exploratory Health Laboratory Evaluation Strategy

Abstract

The COST CARES project aims to support healthcare cost containment and improve healthcare quality across Europe by developing the research and development necessary for person-centred care (PCC) and health promotion. This paper presents an overview evaluation strategy for testing 'Exploratory Health Laboratories' to deliver these aims. Our strategy is theory driven and evidence based, and developed through a multi-disciplinary and European-wide team. Specifically, we define the key approach and essential criteria necessary to evaluate initial testing, and on-going large-scale implementation with a core set of accompanying methods (metrics, models, and measurements). This paper also outlines the enabling mechanisms that support the development of the "Health Labs" towards innovative models of ethically grounded and evidenced-based PCC.

A national research centre for the evaluation and implementation of person‐centred care: Content from the first interventional studies

“…Concerning PCC, it is also relevant to evaluate patient‐reported experience measures, that is, a measure of patients’ perceptions and observations on aspects of healthcare and healthcare services. Additional useful materials for such development work are available in a recently published paper from the WE CARE project, defining key aspects and enablers of developing their PCC‐based ‘Health Labs’ 50 …”

Analysis and Conceptualization of Healthcare Systems and Training in the Context of Technological Innovation and Personalization

“…Several methodologies within this framework can be proposed, such as improving coordination and access to healthcare and services [39,40] through a mixed methodology such as product/service, service delivery, process, administrative and organisational, conceptual, policy or systemic initiatives which can help integrate different stakeholders (health professionals, persons and communities, etc.). One promising methodology is also developing Health Labs to improve healthcare quality and facilitate cost containment [41].…”

“…Regardless of the implementation strategy, however, key questions that should be asked in a people-centered perspective include what is required support its implementation (including staff and infrastructure costs per person and at the aggregate level), what is the impact on service utilization (such as prevention of visits to urgent cure and unplanned stays), what is the impact on self-management and care prevention, and how improvements in physical health and medicine can be optimized [41].…”

Shared Decision Making

“…The focal point of person-centered care (PCC) is treating patients in a broad context, not only through the prism of their illnesses and biomedical tests, but most of all perceiving them as persons with all their capabilities and limitations [17,38]. PCC means moving from a model where patients are passive targets for medical intervention to a model where more partner-like arrangements are made involving the patients as active partners in their care.…”