Certification opportunities of standard for patient participation in healthcare

In health care, a transformation is taking place towards greater person-centredness, which, according to the National Board of Health and Welfare, is an aspect that contributes to good care. Person-centered care (PCV) is an ethic, a way of working and an approach where the patient actively participates in their health care, self-care, treatment, planning and decision-making process. Patients are seen as persons and experts on their own health and are therefore integrated as an equal part in their care process, instead of being reduced to their illness. PCV assumes that healthcare professionals work together with the patient and adapt the services to the persons´s resources, needs and goals.

Participation is a fundamental aspect in person-centred care and means, among other things, that there is room for the care seeker to express questions and possible concerns. A person can be involved in the care process and decisions to varying degrees, and as a professional it is important to be sensitive to each person´s preferences in the communication process. As a person in care and with care needs, being at the center and as far as possible included in all care decisions and processes is important and has been shown to lead to better self-care and better cooperation between carers.

As a support to organizations the standard for Patient participation in healthcare-minimum requirements for person-centred care (SS-EN 17398:2020) has been developed which aims to facilitate collaboration between patients and healthcare professionals in the design, implementation and evaluation of healthcare services. Participation in the standard concerns both the individual´s participation in their own care, and patient participation at the organizational level. The document can be used as a tool for planning, managing, implementing and systematically evaluating daily activities, enabling patients to manage their daily lives and empowering them in the care process. In addition, it can be used to support patient participation at the system level and thereby ensure that the patient perspective is included in the development, implementation and evaluation of services, research and policies in healthcare. A certification based on the standard provides service providers the oppurtunity ti increase their efficiency and quality regarding the service that patients receive. This means that the service providers get a tool to improve and develop their service.

A certification for patient participation in healthcare shows that a healthcare organisation has implemented the working methods according to SS-EN 17398 and that it has been reviewed and approved by a certification body. SS-EN 17398 can also be used by organizations for benchmarking.