Key Elements of Patient/Client-Centred Practice:

In their article "A review of evidence on the conceptual elements informing client-centred practice", Drs. Sumsion and Law, educators in the field of occupational therapy, conducted a literature search and examined 120 health sciences papers which discuss concepts related to client-centred practice. An analysis of this information led the authors to summarize the main elements of client-centred practice into five domains relating to:

• Power
• Listening and communicating
• Partnership
• Choice
• Hope

As well, they found evidence that adopting a client-centred approach results in improved satisfaction with service, adherence to treatment interventions and improved functional outcomes. Using their research analysis of the elements of client-centred practice, they suggest that health care providers reflect on the following questions in order to determine the degree to which they incorporate elements of client-centred practice into their clinical work. The questions are provided here with permission by the publishing journal.

Please review the Practice Questions Chart on the following page which is also provided in your handout package.