Importance of patient-centered care in enhancing patient well-being: a cancer survivor's perspective

In this narrative article, the author, a long-term cancer survivor, reflects on his personal interactions with the healthcare system over a period of 14 years in order to highlight the importance of delivering patient-centered care. He makes a case for why quality of care assessments are incomplete if they focus on clinical indicators of quality alone and exclude systematic assessment of the patient-centered aspects of care from the patient's perspective. The important role played by patient-centered care in reducing patient suffering and enhancing well-being is underscored in this commentary.