Patient-centred care: How close to this are we?

• Main Authors: Cunningham, S.J (Author), Hemmings, K.W (Author), Kalsi, J.S (Author)
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: George Warman Publications 2018
• Subjects: adult; article; expectation; human; patient care; patient satisfaction; quality of life
• Online Access: View Fulltext in Publisher

 This article focuses on those aspects of patient-centred care which are relevant to dentistry. Understanding motivating factors and patient expectations of treatment are fundamental in the provision of high quality care. Ensuring that patients have realistic expectations can be enhanced by providing good information and communicating well at all stages of treatment-factors which also enhance the overall patient experience. A wide range of factors contribute to patient satisfaction with treatment, alongside meeting expectations and ensuring that the treatment experience is positive, but some of these factors are still not fully understood and more work is required to understand, for example, how patients' psychological traits may influence satisfaction. It is essential that clinicians consider these factors when providing care for their patients and this paper discusses current evidence relating to patient expectations, patient experience, effectiveness of treatment (primarily quality of life) and also those factors which may impact on patient satisfaction with treatment. © 1999-2018 George Warman Publications (UK) Ltd. All rights reserved.