Saqqummersitaq

Abstract

The vision of the Greenlandic healthcare system is to make healthcare accessible to all citizens and better adapted to cultural background and lifestyle. To achieve this vision and promote self-care, there has been an increasing focus on involvement of citizens in both prevention and treatment of diseases. On this basis, we have studied health professionals’ perspectives on patient involvement.

The aim was to identify health professional and organizational drivers of and barriers to patient involvement in a hospital setting.

In 2018, three semi-structured research interviews and 12 observations were performed with 17 health professionals from eight professional staff groups. Malterud’s text condensation was used to analyze interviews and field notes. The findings involved: 1) organization of and transitions in patient pathways; 2) perceptions of patient involvement and professional role; and 3) prerequisites for patient and family involvement.

We found that most health professionals wished to involve the patients and that they were able to identify significant and accessible opportunities for improvement. One idea identified for improvement was information to citizens about how the healthcare system works. Furthermore, a greater overview of patient pathways – both locally and at the hospital – might support these efforts, creating improvements for both professionals and patients.