Innovative standard for patient participation in person-centred care
A European standard initiated by GPCC. It can facilitate the introduction of, work with and research on person-centred care.
About the standard
In 2016 GPCC initiated a European standardisation process with the aim of facilitating the implementation of, work with and research on person-centred care. In June 2020 a European standard CEN/TC 450 was adopted. The standard is entitled Patient involvement in healthcare - Minimum requirements for person-centred care, and it is the first in Europe in its field. It can be used in a number of different ways by health and care actors, patient organisations, researchers, businesses and other actors.
What the standard can be used for
The standard has many potential uses. Here are some examples.
In health, social and elderly care settings:
• As a guideline / standard when implementing person-centred care in health, social and elderly care.
• As an aid for planning, management, implementation and systematic evaluation of daily activities.
• To enable patients to manage their daily lives and strengthen them in the care process.
• To support patient participation at a system level.
• To ensure that the patient perspective is included in the development, implementation and evaluation of services, research and policies in healthcare.
• To ensure patient participation in quality indicators and improvement work at all operational and strategic levels within healthcare.
• To strengthen patient and user participation in procurements, routines and guidelines within healthcare.
In research:
• To ensure that patient participation is included in person-centred research.
For patient and family/carer organisations:
• To ensure patient participation in designing, implementation and evaluation of quality indicators and improvement work at all operational and strategic levels within the healthcare settings.
• To strengthen patient and family/carer participation in procurements, routines and guidelines within healthcare.
Background
The work on the European standard commenced in the autumn of 2016 and ten active member countries took part during the entire process, including France, Norway, the Czech Republic, Bulgaria, the Netherlands, Italy, Germany and Austria. The European committee was chaired by Associate Professor Axel Wolf of the GPCC. Each participating country had their own national committee, which consisted of experts who provided input, expert knowledge and took part in a discussion forum.
The participating countries had to reach consensus in order for the standard to become accepted, with no country voting against it. Consensus was reached and nobody voted against this new and unique European standard.
Links to the standard and other information
Information about the standard CEN/TC 450 in the various European countries.
Is it possible to standardise an ethical principal? Interview with Axel Wolf