The idea of person-centred health systems is widely advocated in political and policy declarations to better address health system challenges. However, there is continuing debate about the strategies that are available and effective to promote and implement ‘person-centred’ approaches to the different roles people take in health systems, as individual service users, care managers, taxpayers or active citizens.

The notion of a more participatory approach to informed decision-making was first proposed by Robert Veatch in 1972, who suggested the idea of “sharing of decision-making”. Evidence was accumulating that where doctors and patients agreed on the problem, outcomes were better. Nearly 50 years later, France Légaré observes the continuing importance of choosing treatments in a context of shared decision-making and how the field has evolved. 

The evidence presented will not only provide invaluable policy advice to practitioners and policymakers working on the design and implementation of person-centred health systems but will also be an excellent resource for academics and graduate students researching health systems in Europe.

The study will be available to download for free from the Observatory website and hard copies will be available to purchase from the publisher's website.