Person-centred care is increasingly the focus of discussion these days, that which incorporates the preferences, circumstances and values of patients. It is also about results related to the life quality of people and clinical variables. This is the guiding theme of the journey we propose today in this summer post. We hope it is inspiring.
Johanna Caro reflected on the challenges faced by the Essencial project and low-value practices, from Quebec (where the international congress, Preventing Over-diagnosis, was held last year).
Johanna Caro reflexionava des del Quebec (on es va fer l’any passat el congrés internacional Preventing Overdiagnosis) sobre els reptes del projecte Essencial i les pràctiques de poc valor.
“Patients are also important decision makers in relation to their needs and in the demand for certain health services. Hence, the project must be accompanied by a communications strategy aimed not only at patients but also at citizens in general”
Cari Almazan was only recently interviewed, in fact, in relation to the Essencial project.
“In usual medical practice, there are known routines that do not offer any benefit to the patient and it is difficult to understand why these occur but it is even more difficult to try and avoid them”
Assumpció González Mestre highlighted the strengths of the patient and expert caregiver programmes (Pacient Expert Catalunya and Cuidador Expert Catalunya, respectively).
“This type of learning programme among equals manages to improve the quality of life of people which find themselves in the environment of a disease in the context of chronicity in Catalonia, be it as patients, as caregivers or both things together”
Gaietà Permanyer – already mentioned several days ago within the context of research and the press, reflected from her experience as a physician on the information which reaches the general population.
“I have witnessed the growth of citizens’ autonomy, now widely acknowledged, and their right to take “informed decisions”. This position, which has come to define the 21st Century as “the patients’ century”, acknowledges their right to know relevant professional data so as to be able to take accurate decisions autonomously”
Felip Miralles i Joan Escarrabill situated us in the process of preparing the XPatient congress which is being held this September and which is based on an innovative vision to foster the empowerment of the patient and caregiver.
“Hi ha moltes estratègies per identificar les necessitats no cobertes dels pacients i dels seus cuidadors”
Finally, Montse Moharra placed value on the importance of language and communication in order to successfully facilitate access to information in a clear and understandable way.
“There is a growing need, therefore, to provide this (medical information) within a comprehensible format which includes the need to ensure that the medical message a patient receives is effective.”
We have a lot of challenges on top of many other challenges, both old and new, in an ever changing world. These challenges add to the limitations but also the opportunities within a health system, to those of the process in disease and those of the entire population.
Si pensamos en datos de salud es fácil que pensemos en la 
