Designing for a culture of patient and family centered care in a community healthcare facility

The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010 has improved the relevance of patient satisfaction and has urged hospitals to reconsider their approach to patient care. Many healthcare facilities are looking to provide patient- and family-centered care. The aim of this capstone was to clarify key elements of patient- and family-centered care and establish how healthcare facilities have been able to successfully incorporate this approach to care. A comparative analysis was done on four hospitals that are successfully providing patient- and family-centered care. The comparative analysis established that there are three key elements that need to be present for a hospital to provide patient- and family centered care. These elements are an organizational culture that embraces the idea, continued staff education on patient and family-centered care, and a facility with design elements that support this approach to care. The idea of patient- and family-centered care organizational wide is still a new idea for community healthcare facilities. This examination adds to the field of healthcare by providing specific elements that support a successful implementation of patient- and family-centered care in a community hospital environment. The information determined from this study would be beneficial for a hospital that is considering or already implementing a patient- and family-centered care model in their facility.