title: Light still shines in the darkness: decent care for all.
abstract: Health care is in crisis at the global, national, and local levels, with hundreds of millions living without basic care, or with insufficient care. Current health care models seem to have ignored, muted, or excluded the voices of the people they were intended to serve, resulting in health systems and care delivery models that do not respond to the needs of the people. This article describes a values-based approach to health and health care services in which the voices of the people are heard and listened to, and in which individuals and communities are informed participants in their own care. We draw parallels between contemporary concerns for decency in care giving to Florence Nightingale's path-breaking work, first with the British military medical system and then Great Britain as a whole.
authors.affiliation: Office of the Director-General’s Representative for Partnerships and UN Reform, World Health Organization, Geneva, Switzerland. ted.karpf@gmail.com
authors.forename: Ted
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Karpf
authors.forename: J Todd
authors.initials: JT
authors.lastname: Ferguson
authors.forename: Robin Y
authors.initials: RY
authors.lastname: Swift
mesh_terms: D004645:Empathy; D004739:England; D055318:Evidence-Based Nursing / Q000266:history*; D005260:Female; D006676:History of Nursing; D049673:History, 20th Century; D049674:History, 21st Century; D006801:Humans; D028681:Moral Obligations; D024802:Nurse's Role / Q000266:history*; D009723:Nurse-Patient Relations; D015404:Nursing Methodology Research; D010344:Patient Advocacy / Q000266:history*; D018802:Patient-Centered Care / Q000266:history; D028723:Personhood; D012931:Social Environment; D012945:Social Values / Q000266:history*