Our research changes health care! Utilisation and implementation

Driving the transition to person-centred care in practice requires more than simply carrying out isolated studies and publishing scientific reports, bringing new results to utilisation in everyday clinical working context. This task is too complex for any single research group or societal institution to achieve independently, which is why GPCC works actively to facilitate utilisation.

Utilisation support in the individual GPCC projects

GPCC encourages and supports its' individual projects in considering utilisation aspects from the beginning in the projects’ design. GPCC researchers are also expected to use a clear challenge-driven perspective, as well as reflect on and promote long-term sustainability for the results of their studies.

One way to make this possible is through collaborations with the stakeholders who have the long-term responsibility for utilisation, such as patient organisations, caregivers, as well as businesses.

Tools for person-centred care

Based on GPCC's research, a variety of practice tools have been developed and adapted to support person-centred care. Read more about them here.

Research close to practice

The research conducted at GPCC is often carried out close to practice. It is needs-linked, and often conducted in a daily clinical work environment. This makes it possible to translate the research results into new methods of care, organisational forms, tools and other elements of the patient’s care process.

It also makes it possible to maintain the person-centred practice even after the research project has been completed in, for example, a healthcare department. GPCC's utilisation work intends to bridge the gap between the time-limited research project and long-term transition to working methods that are based on a partnership between patient, family caregivers, health care personnel,  community and the larger society.

GPCC contributes to the transition towards person-centred care in Sweden

GPCC has carried out a number of utilisation and implementation projects that have brought our research results and evidence-based methods into Sweden's health care settings.

GPCCs research programme also includes studies of implementation, organisation, leadership and governance of person-centred care. In this research domain, we focus on the structural conditions for and the implementation of person-centred care, from meso- to macro-level, in Swedish and European health care. The aim is to increase knowledge of effective strategies to support the implementation of person-centred care and factors that influence the process of change. Read more about this research domain here.

Between 2013-2017 GPCC Implement (a non-profit company owned by GU Ventures AB) conducted a number of training courses in various healthcare settings. These included person-centred care and its foundations, training in practical ways of working, and support in adapting organizations, work routines, and incentives to person-centred ways of working. Read more about GPCC Implement here.

GPCC is thus making a tangible contribution to the transition that is now taking place in Swedish healthcare towards a more person-centred care, where over half of Sweden's municipalities, regions and county councils have made decisions and started work on this change, according to a survey made by The Swedish Association of Local Authorities and Regions (SALAR) in 2018. Work is now underway to reform Swedish health care in which person-centredness and integrated care processes are highlighted as central components of this transformation. Read more about that here.

PCP4: Test beds for person-centred care are scaled up

One of the first utilisation projects GPCC carried out was to try out various aspects of working in a person-centred way in individual departments at Sahlgrenska University Hospital in 2012. These small test beds were carried out in collaboration between academia, healthcare and industry.

Now GPCC is working to build larger test beds together with entire regions, larger patient and professional organisations, as well as partners in industry and academia. Those of Sweden's county councils and regions who have advanced the most in their work to implement person-centred care, like Blekinge, Dalarna and Västra Götaland, participate in Person-centred Patient-Public-Private Partnership (PCP4). The project is led by Professor Håkan Billig. Read more about this project here.

European standard for person-centred care

GPCC has initiated the creation of the first European standard for patient involvement in healthcare services. The standard, which is called Patient involvement in healthcare services– Minimum requirements for person-centred care, will aim to create favourable structural conditions for person-centred care. The standard was accepted during the spring of 2020. Read more about it here .