The WE-CARE Roadmap: A Framework for Implementation of Person-Centred Care and Health Promotion in Medical Organizations

As a result of a multinational and multi-industrial scientific project, a framework supporting implementation of Person-Centred Care (PCC) and Health Promotions (HP) has been developed. The framework has been called “WE-CARE Roadmap” and consists from five enablers: technology, quality measures, infrastructure, incentive systems and contracting strategies. (PCC) and (HP) are promising approaches to contain costs of healthcare while maintaining and even improving the quality of medical services. However, the implementation of PCC and HP in many organisations was unsustainable. They were implemented as projects or interventions but after the cause of implementation despaired (e.g. the research program was finished) the care slipped back into ‘usual care’. The WE-CARE Roadmap appears to have a great potential to become an important implementation tool ensuring PCC and/or HP sustainable functioning in medical organisations. Initial research has shown the WE-CARE Roadmap potential. However, the framework is not widely recognised and needs revision and explanation. The main barrier to more extensive usage of the framework may be the lack of comprehensive definitions and descriptions of the five enablers. What each enabler stands for, what it embraces, and what are the mechanisms through which the five enablers support the implementation of PCC and/or HP. Thus, the study revises and defines the enablers, as well as deepens the understanding, how each enabler separately and all of them together, as a system of enablers, facilitate the implementation of PCC and/or HP. The comprehensive definition of enablers and analysis of their functioning may help researchers to further investigate the promising framework and managers use it as a tool for PCC and/or HP implementation in their organisations.