Health professionals’ and patients’ perceptions of patient-centered care: a comparison

Abstract

Rationale, aims and objectives: This study aimed to compare health professionals’ and patients’ perceptions of patient-centered care (PCC) practice. Methods: PCC was operationalized into three components: (i) holistic, (ii) collaborative and (iii) responsive care. In a cross-sectional design, a sample of 401 health professionals and 500 patients in acute care settings in Ontario, Canada completed a valid and reliable measure of PCC. Results: The results showed that patients had lower ratings of PCC than health professionals, indicating that patients viewed their care as holistic, collaborative and responsive to a low-moderate extent; this contrasted with a more positive view by health professionals, suggesting a high level of PCC enactment (all p’s < 0.05; effect sizes range: 0.38 to 0.88). Discussion and Conclusion: Although methodological, clinical and contextual factors have been suggested, additional research is needed to further explore the mechanisms underlying these differences. Collaboration among management, professionals and patients would promote a collective development of guidelines to deliver PCC.