Introduction
International evidence comprising a large body of research works shows that a person-centred approach to primary health care, as an evidence-based practice, is essential to nursing practice as it improves the outcomes of therapy for patients. Person-centred care and its related concepts have become popular in the recent past with most studies seeking to establish the effectiveness of the core processes of the approach. Correspondingly, the aim of this study is to evaluate and analyse the existing body of evidence on person-centred care with a view to justifying the postulation that the approach enhances patient experience and improves the outcomes of therapy. The relevance and need for such an endeavour comes in the face of the current need for quality improvement, stemming from the concept of quality nursing. The last decade has seen quality nursing become the epicentre of all nursing and care practices. Researchers and practitioners have been in an incessant search for highly effective approaches to primary healthcare that measure up to the threshold of quality care. Quality care entails transcending the ritualistic and normal boundaries of patient care with the goal of improving patient experience and the outcomes of treatment. It is on such grounds that the person-centre care approach has become popular as an evidence-based practice with measurable outcomes whose application facilitates quality care. This discussion will address this topic using a comprehensive variety of the most recent literature materials. In addition, the approach will be compared to the traditional care approach with the aim of identifying the edge that the it has over the traditional approach. Quality Improvement (QI) tools such as person-directed care (PDC) and person-centred care assessment tool (P-CAT) will be applied when discussing the manner in which these instruments contribute to quality improvement, alongside Carl Rogers’ Person-centred approach as a QI framework.
Analysis of Person-Centred Care as an Evidence-Based Practice
Person-centred care entails focusing on the subjectivity of patients concerning their illnesses without considering their mental status through the acknowledgement that care delivery should concentrate on them and not their illnesses (McMillan et al. 2013). McLeod (2015, pp.107-115) adds that person-centred care and its related therapeutic approaches is a matter of concern since it improves the quality of care. The centrality of these issues is best highlighted through a comparison with the traditional medical approach, which focuses on the illness of a patient. According to Taylor et al. (2011, pp.735-736), the medical approach to primary health care ignores some of the most fundamental features of a patient, which have significant impacts on therapy, patient experience, and outcomes. These features include the opinions of patients concerning therapy, their feelings concerning their caregivers, and their rights. Lawton, Rankin and Elliot (2013, pp.876-886) observe that ignoring such aspects during treatment may not only stagnate the effects of therapies, but also impede the path of a positive patient experience. The culminating effect of the approach is decreased quality of care, despite the commitment to alleviate the effects of illnesses. The endeavour to adopt and inculcate the person-centred care approach affects service users, staff, and the entire organisation. Precisely, staff members should improve on their care skills as well as change their mentality concerning their approach to care (Olsson et al. 2013, pp.456-465).