title: Effects of person-centred care in patients with chronic heart failure: the PCC-HF study.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Person-centred care (PCC) emphasizes a partnership in care between patients and healthcare professionals and is advocated by WHO as a key component of quality health care. We evaluated outcomes of PCC in hospitalized patients with chronic heart failure (CHF) with respect to the length of hospital stay (LOS), activities of daily living (ADL), health-related quality of life (HRQL) and 6-month readmission rate.
  
  
  RESULTS
  During 2008-2010, 248 consecutive patients hospitalized for symptoms of worsening CHF were enrolled in a controlled before and after designed study. A Usual care group (n= 123) was recruited according to pre-defined criteria to map usual CHF care and assess outcomes at five designated hospital wards. Based on the mapping, a panel of in-house clinicians and researchers developed measures aimed at aligning usual care with basic PCC principles. These measures were incorporated into a study protocol to guide care procedures at the same five wards. Person-centred care was then implemented at these wards and evaluated in 125 patients. Both length of hospital stay and 6-month readmission were extracted from patient records. Activities of daily living were evaluated at baseline and discharge and HRQL was evaluated at baseline and after 3 months. In the analysis of all patients, the LOS was reduced by 1 day (P = 0.16) while retaining ADL (P = 0.07). When PCC was fully implemented (per protocol analysis), LOS was reduced by 2.5 days (P = 0.01) and the ADL-level better preserved (P = 0.04). Health-related quality of life and time-to-first readmission did not differ.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In this proof-of-concept study, our findings suggest that a fully implemented PCC approach shortens hospital stay and maintains functional performance in patients hospitalized for worsening CHF, without increasing risk for readmission or jeopardizing patients' HRQL.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Health and Care Sciences, Sahlgrenska Academy,  University of Gothenburg, Box 457, Gothenburg 40530,  Sweden.
authors.forename: Inger
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Ekman
authors.forename: Axel
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Wolf
authors.forename: Lars-Eric
authors.initials: LE
authors.lastname: Olsson
authors.forename: Charles
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Taft
authors.forename: Kerstin
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Dudas
authors.forename: Maria
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Schaufelberger
authors.forename: Karl
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Swedberg
mesh_terms: D000203:Activities of Daily Living; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002908:Chronic Disease; D005260:Female; D006333:Heart Failure / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D006801:Humans; D007902:Length of Stay / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D008297:Male; D010359:Patient Readmission / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D018802:Patient-Centered Care / Q000379:methods*; D011788:Quality of Life