Patient centredness, values, equity and sustainability: Professional, organizational and institutional implications

The concept of “patient centredness”, or “patient-centred care”, has been studied so far in a variety of declinations, perspectives, and practices. This paper suggests conceiving it as a collective achievement that is negotiated between multiple actors of a system, and that includes social practices and relationships that are woven together through the material and immaterial resources available in organizational settings and contexts. By focusing on the three core dimensions that compose the value of patient centredness, which are the attention to the individual, to the relational and to the organizational dimension, the paper invites to consider new and critical perspectives for research and intervention on such essential topic. Three directions are indicated for future studies: (1) Rec-onciling evidence-based medicine and patient-centred care through mixed-method sensitivity to healthcare research; (2) Revisiting the traditional assumptions on validity and impact, investing on new ways for assessing, measuring, and monitoring patient-centred care; (3) Investing in participa-tive, practice-based and situated processes for guaranteeing the possibility to get close to the com-plexity of processes and to work on personal, professional, and organizational developments. The invitation is to consider these pathways to connect patient-centred care with new meanings of value, sustainability, and ethics in healthcare.