Patient-centredness: meaning and propriety in the Botswana, African and non-Western contexts

• Published in: African journal of primary health care & family medicine Vol. 6; no. 1; pp. E1 - E4
• Main Authors: Setlhare, Vincent, Couper, Ian, Wright, Anne
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: South Africa African Online Scientific Information Systems (Pty) Ltd t/a AOSIS 01.01.2014; AOSIS (Pty) Ltd; AOSIS OpenJournals; AOSIS
• Subjects: Africa; Botswana; Care and treatment; Culture; Family medicine; Humans; Opinion Paper; Patient centeredness, appropriate to context, Eurocentric model, Afrocentric model, construal of self, traditional health practitioners; Patient-Centered Care - methods; Patients; Primary Health Care - methods; Quality management; Botswana; Africa; South Africa
• ISSN: 2071-2928; 2071-2936
• DOI: 10.4102/phcfm.v6i1.554

Patient-centredness (PC) is a key principle in Family Medicine. The term 'patient-centredness' was coined by Balint to emphasise that patients should be treated as unique individuals and was used initially to describe how physicians should interact and communicate with patients. The Institute of Medicine, an American non-profit, non-governmental organisation, advises that PC should be 'responsive to and respectful of the individual patient's preferences, needs and values while ensuring that the patient's values guide clinical decisions'. This is the Eurocentric model of PC which is now taught in Botswana and other non-Western settings. The Eurocentric meaning and operationalisation of PC, though based on research in Western contexts, seems to be accepted universally. The universal appropriateness of the meaning and application of the Eurocentric model of PC needs to be backed by evidence from research in non-Western contexts. This article attempts to show how the understanding and practice of PC may be different in other regions. It also hopes to stimulate debate and research on PC in non-Western contexts.