Person and Family Centered Care.

Abstract

Person and Family Centered Care Jane Barnsteiner, PhD, RN, FAAN, Joanne Disch, PhD, RN, FAAN, and Mary K. Walton, MSN, MBE, RN. Indianapolis, IN: Sigma Theta Tau International, 2014, 470 pages, $69.95.Jane Barnsteiner, Joanne Disch, and Mary K. Walton present a timely work of scholarship in Person and Family Centered Care. Drawing from expertise of leaders across a variety of disciplines, this book serves as a field guide for health care organizations that strive to transform their cultures into ones that focus on patients and families. The authors provide a scrupulous dissection of the topic of person centeredness and how a shiftto this model of care provision can impact health care organizations and patients.Person-centered care means to "recognize the patient or designee as the source of control and a full partner in providing compassionate and coordinated care based upon respect for patient preferences, values, and needs" (Cronenwett et al., 2007, p. 123). Health care facilities often face a dilemma as they strive to balance provision of excellent care that produces optimal outcomes for patients, such as patient experience and reduction in harm, with budgetary constraints and pay- for-performance issues.A wealth of evidence supports implementation of technical processes, procedures, and checklists that aim to improve patient outcomes and satisfaction. Organizations may implement every best practice, use the latest technology, and establish well-proven processes, but fail to move the needle in a positive direction. Their approach lacks an essential ingredient: culture. What makes hospitals exceptional is their cultures and how those cultures support and encourage caregivers to provide the degree of person centeredness required to make patients feel truly cared for. Without centering on patients as people, organizations will never reach their potential despite going through the motions of dotting every "i" and crossing every "t" on a checklist. Barnsteiner, Disch, and Walton provide provocative discussion on the necessity of combining a person-centered care approach with processes that are in place to ensure standards of care."The people in our care need us, it turns out. Certainly, they need us to carry out instrumental care with precision and competence. But they need us, too" (Koloroutis & Trout, 2014, p. 114). Patients and their families need us. The authors not only present theoretical concepts of person-centered care but also provide a robust amount of expertise and dialogue from the ultimate experts in person centeredness: patients and direct caregivers. The most poignant sections of the book are by those who have been in the patient role or who relate experiences of caring for patients; these stories support Koloroutis and Trout's (2014) idea that patients need to feel connected with us, their caregivers. Moreover, the patients quoted in the book voice the need to feel heard, involved, and in control through our attunement to them. Many would argue that patients experiencing illness are at their most vulnerable. It is during these times that patients need, and indeed crave, more than science and the protocols and processes that emerge, and that we have a responsibility to engage meaningfully with them as persons to provide healing to them as patients.In addition to stimulating important and opportune discussion, this book is well-structured. …