Authors' recommendations: Patient-centered care can be a nebulous concept with a range of definitions and acknowledged difficulty in measuring it or its effects. Hence, health care researchers approaching the concept have tended to break it down into more manageable (and measurable) segments, such as the efficacy of self-management education programs for patients with chronic diseases. Patient-centered care overall Systematic reviews synthesizing primary research inevitably have followed the same path: six of the nine reviews identified for this overview synthesized disease-specific patient education or self-management interventions for chronic conditions, but no review focused explicitly on all aspects of patient-centered care as outlined in the PCS initiative group definition. Only two reviews attempted any breadth of approach (Lewin, 2001; Boulware, 2001). Lewin (2001) is a Cochrane review synthesizing results of randomized and other controlled studies for interventions directed to providers; given Cochrane methods and rigorous ongoing review, its results may be considered robust and trustworthy. Boulware (2001) required only that included articles be published in peer-reviewed journals. Lacking more specific inclusion and quality evaluation criteria, results from Boulware should be viewed with a degree of skepticism. Communication with patients/patient education Reviews of communication or patient education (Appendix Table 2) cover a broad range of interventions and found areas of consensus across that range:The quality of primary research needs improvement;Articles meeting selection criteria for individual reviews used patient populations, interventions, and outcomes too heterogeneous to pool results;Any positive effects were small, relevant to intermediate outcomes, or seen only in some diagnostic groups at some follow up periods.Finally, as PCS strategic planning proceeds and further clarifies its literature synthesis needs, TAP will continue to monitor the literature for new approaches to defining and measuring patient centered care.

Project Status: Completed

URL for project: http://www4.va.gov/VATAP/docs/PatientCenteredCare2008tagm.pdf

Year Published: 2007

URL for published report: http://www4.va.gov/VATAP/docs/Patientcenteredcare2010.pdf

English language abstract: An English language summary is available

Publication Type: Not Assigned

Country: United States

Organisation Name: VA Technology Assessment Program

Contact Address: Liz Adams, VA Technology Assessment Program, Office of Patient Care Services (11T), VA Boston Healthcare System Room 4D-142, 150 South Huntington Avenue, Boston, MA 02130 USA Tel: +1 617 278 4469; Fax: +1 617 264 6587;

Contact Name: elizabeth.adams@med.va.gov

Contact Email: elizabeth.adams@med.va.gov

Copyright: VA Technology Assessment Program (VATAP)