title: Importance of patient-centered care in enhancing patient well-being: a cancer survivor's perspective.
abstract: 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.
authors.affiliation: Outcomes Research Branch, Applied Research Program, Division of Cancer Control and Population Sciences, National Cancer Institute, 6130 Executive Blvd., Bethesda, MD 20892-7344, USA. aroran@mail.nih.gov
authors.forename: Neeraj K
authors.initials: NK
authors.lastname: Arora
mesh_terms: D000739:Anecdotes as Topic; D006801:Humans; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000188:drug therapy; D017060:Patient Satisfaction; D018802:Patient-Centered Care; D010817:Physician-Patient Relations; D011787:Quality of Health Care; D011788:Quality of Life; D017741:Survivors / Q000523:psychology*