Problematising assumptions about 'centredness' in patient and family centred care research in acute care settings

Abstract

Over the last two decades significant efforts have been made to implement patient and family 'centred' care as both a practical and moral imperative for adult acute care delivery. Although many resources have been developed and adopted by institutions, research suggests persistent and diverse barriers to implementing and achieving patient and family 'centred' care in adult acute care practice settings. These issues in implementation suggest re-examining the nature of 'centredness' in care may be useful. A structured problematisation method, as outlined by Alvesson and Sandberg, is utilised to identify and analyse assumptions about the central notions of 'centring' that inform patient and family centred care intervention research. From our analysis, we highlight three predominant areas within 'centring' intervention research that may benefit from rethinking: Vitruvian spatiality, democratising care, and 'centring' positioned as primarily a problem and accomplishment for nursing. As a challenge to these assumptions, we argue for the adoption of theoretical lenses that 'de-centre' individual actors to better account for complex relations among multiple actors, both human and nonhuman, which work to involve patients and families in care practices.

Keywords: acute care; adult; patient and family centred care; problematisation; sociological critique.