Implementing Person-centered Care in Psychiatric Rehabilitation: What Does This Involve?

Background: It has been challenging to move beyond the rhetoric of "recovery" and "person-centered care" to concrete practices that embody these lofty, if also obvious, values. Method: This paper describes two examples of person-centered care: the practices of person-centered care planning from the U.S. and Open Dialogue from Finland. Results: The key strategies that these two practices involve are 1) reorientation from patient to person-hood; 2) reorientation of what is considered valued knowledge and expertise, and; 3) partnership and negotiation in decision-making. Limitations: This review focused on two examples of person-centered care which appear to be promising. Preliminary findings will need to be replicated and elaborated for such practices to be considered evidence-based. Conclusion: It is possible to embody the values of person-centered care and recovery in everyday clinical and rehabilitative practice. A primary shift involved is in the role of patients and their family, friends, and peers and in the importance accorded their everyday life experiences and challenges.