Patient- and Family-Centered Care

At Strong Memorial Hospital we’re dedicated to building and nurturing a partnership with our patients and families to improve their well-being. This partnership is often referred to as patient- and family-centered care or PFCC. While we have our own way of achieving new levels of excellence in this partnership, we are part of a nationwide movement that recognizes PFCC as a critical component to health care that is essential to empowering patients so they can control how they heal.

Here at Strong, the PFCC approach is seamlessly integrated into how we interact with patients and families. As a result, you may not always recognize it even while you are benefitting from it. This page shares the basic core concept and definition of patient- and family-centered care that is being embraced across health care institutions today.

PFCC redefines the relationships in health care by replacing the traditional, top-down, physician-to-patient approach with a partnership that is grounded in the exchange of open communication between a patient, family, and members of their health care team.

There are four core concepts supporting this partnership approach. They are:

1. Respect and dignity. Health care practitioners listen to and honor patients’ and families’ perspectives and choices. Patients’ and families’ knowledge, values, beliefs, and cultural backgrounds are incorporated into the planning and delivery of care.
2. Information Sharing. Health care practitioners communicate and share complete and unbiased information with patients and families in ways that are affirming and useful. Patients and families receive timely, complete, and accurate information in order to effectively participate in care and decision-making.
3. Participation. Patients and families are encouraged and supported in participating in care and decision-making at the level they choose.
4. Collaboration. Patients and families are also included on an institution-wide basis. Health care leaders collaborate with patients and families in policy and program development, implementation, and evaluation; in health care facility design; and in professional education, as well as in the delivery of care.

Finally, the very meaning of the word family has also been redefined. Family refers to two or more people who are related biologically, legally, or emotionally. In institutions embracing PFCC, it is up to the patient, provided that they are emotionally mature or competent, to determine who is family and to what degree they will be involved.

For More Information

Embracing PFCC is a decision that each health care institution makes on an individual basis. If you want to learn more about PFCC we encourage you to contact (585) 275-8794 or go online and visit the Institute for Patient- and Family-Centered Care. We also offer a page dedicated to explaining Strong Memorial Hospital’s philosophy of care and how PFCC is a commitment to our patients and families.