Studies show that people often do not have opportunities to engage in health-related decision-making with their health-care providers.
For people experiencing health issues and entering the health system as patients, an arrival at a hospital or a local clinic can be daunting. The health-care setting can be uncomfortable and unfamiliar. People may encounter challenges with communicating in a less familiar language or be faced with technical medical terms and jargon. There may be many health-care providers and their roles may not be clear to someone who comes into the health-care setting.
From the health-care providers' perspective, new patients arrive every day, each with unique symptoms or conditions and personal circumstances. The support of patients as individuals is further complicated by underlying and systemic structural issues in health systems that can foster exclusion and oppression, including everyday racism. The outcomes can lead to medical mistrust and ultimately, poor care and health outcomes for patients.
People need support and opportunities to work with trusted health-care providers to make the best health decisions for themselves and their families. And those working within health systems need guidance and procedures to fully deliver on their key aspiration: the provision of person-centred care.
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