Unfolding the Importance of Patience Preference in Wound Care

Patient preferences are consumer words or behaviors that demonstrate their desire for a variety of health solutions. This notion is becoming more widespread in healthcare settings globally, and it is linked to all elements of the health industry, including discovery, research, delivery, results, and cost-effectiveness care. With the minimal investigation in acute and chronic wound care populations, patient preference research has focused on shared decisions, decisional aids, and clinical practice guideline formulation (1)

The wound care community has generally focused on patient-centered symptoms and measuring quality of life (2). With the growing acknowledgment of wound care as an important specialty and a public health concern that consumes significant resources, it’s more important than ever to pay attention to the desires of individuals with wounds. The focus on the Patient Engagement Model for Wound Care has increased over the years.

Importance of Patient Autonomy and Preferences

Patient autonomy refers to a patient’s right to make decisions regarding their medical care without being influenced by their health care provider. (3) Patient autonomy allows health care workers to educate patients but does not allow them to make decisions for them. Patient autonomy is also linked to patient preferences, as they have the right to choose what work well for them and their daily routine.

While providing patients with information about their options is crucial, genuine patient-centered care necessitates a new decision-making model in which the patient and doctor share responsibility. This paradigm will involve a change toward health care in which clinicians and patients collaborate to treat complex illnesses and make decisions based on the patient’s biological traits, preferences, values, and life circumstances, as well as the best scientific information.

The growing number of clinical circumstances in which there are various care options, each with varying benefits and potential risks, necessitates the development of such a decision-making model. (5)

Importance of Patient Engagement and Empowerment

Health care organizations are constantly seeking methods to enhance their health care delivery, practices, and outcomes as patient-centered approaches to health care gain favor, financial pressures in the healthcare sector build, and competition for patients grows. One such area of innovation is involving patients more intimately in their own care and recovery (6).

The phrase ‘patient engagement’ refers to a partnership between patients and clinicians that tries to encourage patients to take responsibility for their own health and, as a result, act in ways that enhance their health outcomes. Patients who are engaged and can contribute to their own care plans have better health outcomes, according to patient engagement theory.

Patients that are interested in their health care and healing may frequently seek information from outside sources to supplement what their healthcare providers supply.

Patient participation can encompass all areas of the healthcare process, from prevention to diagnosis, care planning, and, as well as patient participation and satisfaction. While patient participation leads to better health care outcomes for both patients and their caregivers, it has been noted that patients who are more informed have a higher level of satisfaction. (6)

How to Engage Patients in Self-Care

The utilization of online tools and electronic health information has the potential to increase care quality and satisfaction, according to recent research by the California Health Care Foundation. Health information improves the patient’s access to care, the management of chronic diseases, the patient and family’s involvement in their care, and the operational efficiency of the organization providing the care (7).

Patient-centered care, which stresses communication, collaboration, and health promotion while also respecting patients’ expectations, autonomy, and values, is at the heart of international healthcare reform initiatives to enhance the delivery of safe, high-quality, and cost-effective services. (8,9)

Patient-centered viewpoints necessitate a paradigm shift away from the paternalistic attitude that healthcare workers are most familiar with. Patients who are well-informed and actively participate in their care become liberated and capable of taking charge of their own care. Patient empowerment is a scientifically validated “method for facilitating self-directed behavioral change.” (10)

When clinicians encourage patient reflection, it leads to a greater understanding of the repercussions of self-management decisions. Patients’ capacity for critical thinking and autonomous informed healthcare decision-making has soared as a result of work on patient empowerment in diabetes. (10)

References

1. Casper GR, Brennan PF, Improving the quality of patient care: the role of patient preferences in the clinical record, Med Care. 1993; ():8-11.
2. Von Neumann J et al. Theory of Games and Economic Behavior. New York: John Wiley & Sons, 1964.Carolyn A. Bernstein, MD, FAHS, Take control of your health care (exert your patient autonomy), Havard health blog
3. Collins ED, et al, Can women with early-stage breast cancer make an informed decision for mastectomy; Journal of Clinical Oncology. 4. Vol. 27. 2009, pp. 519–525. [PubMed]
4. Sepucha KR, et al, Policy support for patient-centered care: The need for measurable improvements in decision quality; Health Affairs (Millwood). Suppl. Variation. 2004, pp. VAR54–62. [PubMed]
5. Clinical Decision Support (CDS) [Internet] Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology. Available from: https://www.healthit.gov/policy-researchers-implementers/clinical-decision-support-cds.
6.  Institute of Medicine: Crossing the Quality Chasm. Washington DC: National Academy Press, 2001 [Accessed 30th December 2021]9. Epstein RM. et al., The values and value of patient-centered care. Ann Fam Med 2011; 9:100.
7.  Selby JV, The Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) national priorities for research and initial research agenda. DOI 2012 Apr 18; 307(15):1583-4.
8.  Institute of Medicine: Crossing the Quality Chasm. Washington DC: National Academy Press, 2001 [Accessed 30th December 2021]9. Epstein RM. et al., The values and value of patient-centered care. Ann Fam Med 2011; 9:100.
9. Selby JV, The Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) national priorities for research and initial research agenda. DOI 2012 Apr 18; 307(15):1583-4.
10. Anderson RM, et al, Review Patient empowerment: myths and misconceptions. DOI 2010 Jun; 79(3):277-82.