title: A Time for Action on Health Inequities: Foundations of the 2014 Geneva Declaration on Person- and People-centered Integrated Health Care for All.
abstract: Global inequalities contribute to marked disparities in health and wellness of human populations. Many opportunities now exist to provide health care to all people in a person- and people-centered way that is effective, equitable, and sustainable. We review these opportunities and the scientific, historical, and philosophical considerations that form the basis for the International College of Person-centered Medicine's 2014Geneva Declaration on Person- and People-centered Integrated Health Care for All.Using consistent time-series data, we critically examine examples of universal healthcare systems in Chile, Spain, and Cuba. In a person-centered approach to public health, people are recognized to have intrinsic dignity and are treated with respect to encourage their developing health and happiness. A person-centered approach supports the freedom and the responsibility to develop one's life in ways that are personally meaningful and that are respectful of others and the environment in which we live together. Evidence suggests that health care organizations function well when they operate in a person-and people-centered way because that stimulates better coordination, cooperation, and social trust. Health care coverage must be integrated at several interconnected levels in order to be effective, efficient, and fair. To reduce the burden of disease, integration is needed between the people seeking and delivering care, within the social network of each person, across the trajectory of each person's life, among primary caregivers and specialists, and across multiple sectors of society. For integration to succeed across all these levels, it must foster common values and a shared vision of the future.
authors.affiliation: Center for Well-Being, Departments of Psychiatry, Genetics, & Psychology, Washington University, St. Louis, Missouri, USA 63110.
authors.forename: C Robert
authors.initials: CR
authors.lastname: Cloninger
authors.affiliation: Mental Health Policy Unit at BMRI and Centre for Disability Research and Policy, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Sydney, Australia.
authors.forename: Luis
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Salvador-Carulla
authors.affiliation: Division of Social & Transcultural Psychiatry, Department of Psychiatry, McGill University, 1033 Pine Ave West, Montreal, Quebec H3A 1A1, Canada.
authors.forename: Laurence J
authors.initials: LJ
authors.lastname: Kirmayer
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Texas A&M Health Science Center College of Medicine, Round Rock, Texas, USA.
authors.forename: Michael A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Schwartz
authors.affiliation: International College of Person-centered Medicine, Canterbury, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: James
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Appleyard
authors.affiliation: International Foundation for Integrated Care, 7200 The Quorum, Oxford Business Park North, Garsington Road, Oxford, OX4 212, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Nick
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Goodwin
authors.affiliation: International Alliance of Patients' Organizations, CAN Mezzanine, 49-51 East Road, London, N1 6AH, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: JoAnna
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Groves
authors.affiliation: Het Park, Center for Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Psychology and Psychotherapy, Sint-Niklaas, Belgium.
authors.forename: Marc H M
authors.initials: MH
authors.lastname: Hermans
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, USA.
authors.forename: Juan E
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Mezzich
authors.affiliation: Division of Philosophy & Ethics of Mental Health, Department of Psychiatry, University of Pretoria, South Africa.
authors.forename: C W
authors.initials: CW
authors.lastname: van Staden
authors.affiliation: WHO Collaborating Center for Public Health Education & Training, School of Public Health, Faculty of Medicine, Imperial College, London, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Salman
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Rawaf
keywords: Complex Adaptive Systems; Health Care Integration; Health Promotion; Person-centered Medicine; Public Health; Universal Health Care