The Person-centred Curriculum Framework: a universal curriculum framework for person-centred healthcare practitioner education

Background: Globally, humanising healthcare is a strategic response to a distinct need for person-centred approaches to practice. This movement has largely focused on the artefacts of healthcare practice, with an emergent focus on the role of healthcare education in instilling and espousing the core principles of person-centredness. It is increasingly recognised that how healthcare professionals are educated is fundamental to creating learning cultures where person-centred philosophies can be lived out and aligned with workforce and healthcare policy strategies. In 2019, six European countries began collaboration on an Erasmus+ project, Person-centredness in Healthcare Curricula, to develop a Person-centred Curriculum Framework. The other articles in this Special Issue focus on the methodologies employed by the project team, and this article describes the framework. Aim: While curricula exist with person-centredness as a focus, aim or component, few embrace person-centredness as an underpinning philosophy and theory, or use a whole-systems approach. This project aimed to develop a universal curricular framework with the agility to work synergistically with existing curricular processes, in pursuit of the development of person-centred healthcare practitioners and cultures. Methods: The project used an iterative multiphase, mixed methods approach, including an e-survey and interviews. Drawing on authentic co-design principles, to create our framework we engaged with stakeholders in clinical practice and academic institutions as well as healthcare students and those working in health policy and strategic workforce planning. Results: We present a framework for the design, delivery and evaluation of curricula, structured using a modified version of McKinsey’s 7S methodology, resulting in each component having a statement, outcomes, and thematic actions to support the realisation of a person-centred curriculum. Conclusion: Our Person-centred Curriculum Framework can facilitate congruency between healthcare education and practice in the way person-centredness is defined and lived out through healthful cultures. Given the iterative origins of the framework, we anticipate its evolution over time through further exploration following its implementation and evaluation

Review of developments in person-centred healthcare

Brendan McCormack - ORCID: 0000-0001-8525-8905 https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8525-8905Tanya McCance - ORCID: 0000-0002-9787-2627 https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9787-2627In recent years, there has been a shift in orientation towards person-centredness as part of a global move towards humanising and centralising the person within healthcare. Person-centredness, underpinned by robust philosophical and theoretical concepts, has an increasingly solid footprint in policy and practice, but research and education lag behind. This article considers the emergence of person-centredness, including person-centred care, and how it is positioned in healthcare policy around the world, while recognising a dominant philosophical positioning in Western philosophy, concepts and theories. Second, the evolution of person-centred healthcare over the past five years is reviewed. Published evidence of person-centred healthcare developments is drawn on, as well as information gathered from key stakeholders who engaged with the partner organisations in an Erasmus+ project to develop a European person-centred healthcare curriculum framework. Five themes are identified, which underpin the literature and stakeholder perspectives: Policy development for transformation Participatory strategies for public engagement Healthcare integration and coordination strategies Frameworks for practice Process and outcome measurement These themes reflect the World Health Organization’s global perspective on people-centred and integrated healthcare, and give some indication of development priorities as person-centred healthcare systems continue to be developed.https://doi.org/10.19043/ipdj.10Suppl2.00310pubpubSuppl

Developing philosophical and pedagogical principles for a pan-European person-centred curriculum framework

Brendan McCormack - ORCID: 0000-0001-8525-8905 https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8525-8905Background: In the associated article in this special issue of the International Practice Development Journal, Phelan et al. (2020) offer an analysis of the global positioning of person-centredness from a strategic policy perspective. This second article, an international person-centred education curriculum development initiative, builds on that foundational work. It outlines the systematic, rigorous processes adopted by academics from five European countries to analyse stakeholder data, theoretically frame the data, and thereby identify philosophical and pedagogical principles to inform the development of person-centred curriculum frameworks.Aim: To identify key principles that have the potential to create an international curriculum framework for the education of person-centred healthcare practitioners.Methods: A hermeneutic praxis methodological approach was used, where multiple rounds of data analyses were conducted. These were initially undertaken in each country, then collaboratively with partners, while engaging with other forms of evidence.Findings: The project group generated a set of principles embedded in four philosophical dimensions: (i) transformative; (ii) co-constructed; (iii) relational; and (iv) pragmatic. The purpose of the curriculum was identified as being transformative, facilitating journeying through knowing, doing, being and becoming a competent and committed person-centred practitioner. A person-centred curriculum is built on a philosophy of pragmatism, adopts a co-constructionist approach to curriculum design and implementation, and encourages connectivity with self, other persons and contexts. Pedagogical principles, aligned to the four philosophical dimensions, identified the required learning environment, and the learning, teaching and assessment approaches required to educate person-centred healthcare practitioners.Conclusion: This article represents steps to foster a more focused and engaging way of implicitly and explicitly embedding person-centred care in curricula. Our theoretical framework has enabled us to consider the different layers of practice while staying true to the purpose of curriculum design. The presentation of the framework in this article makes it available for wider critique to those with an interest in this area of study.Implications for practice: The draft framework provides an opportunity for curriculum teams to critically reflect on and have dialogue around current curricula Person-centred curricula have the potential to improve service-user experiences of care Prepared person-centred practitioners will contribute to person-centred cultures Students and practitioners will experience person-centredness Practitioners will be bold and innovativehttps://doi.org/10.19043/ipdj.10Suppl2.00410pubpubSuppl