Project: KalmCaRe Personcentred care

Facts about the project

Project leader

Amanda Hellström, registered nurse, associate professor in health sciences at Linnaeus University, research leader Academic Primary Care Öland, Region Kalmar län

Other project members

Åsa Petersson, registered nurse, PhD student Linnaeus University

Charlotta Vikström, registered nurse, senior lecturer in nursing science Jönköping University

Kristina Schildmeijer, registered nurse, associate professor in nursing science, Linnaeus University

Jeanette Assarsson, MD, PhD, Consultant Colorectal Surgery, Region Kalmar län

Participating organisations

Linnaeus University, Region Kalmar County, Linköping Comprehensive Cancer Centre (LCCC).

Funder

Cancer Foundation Kalmar County, FORSS

Timetable

2021-2028

Subject area

Nursing Science (Department of Health and Care Sciences, Faculty of Health and Life Sciences)

Research group

The ReAction Group

More about the project

Colorectal cancer care has undergone major changes in recent decades, from long care pathways with extensive aftercare to short care pathways with increased demands on the patient and family to perform self-care. At national level, care should be guaranteed through standardised care pathways (SCPs), and quality assured through evidence-based care programmes. At the individual level, healthcare professionals will work in a person-centred way with the patient. However, the vision of person-centred care does not always correspond to the reality, with rapid care pathways often resulting in short and efficient meetings with patients and their families, focusing on the clinical intention. It is a challenge for healthcare professionals in surgical care to preserve the individual contact and involvement of the patient and their relatives in a care structure with strict standardisation and a traditionally productive and hierarchical environment. Patients in cancer care navigate through a complex system of care and express the need for continuity and coherence of care, which corresponds to their needs and situation. The demand for person-centred care is therefore highly relevant, that the patient actively participates in the care as an equal party in a common context provides benefits for both the patient as well as the health care staff throughout the care process.

This project aims to identify knowledge relevant to the development of sustainable person-centred approaches in SCP for patients with colorectal cancer. A central part of the studies is the inclusion of patients with experience of care. The studies can contribute to a better understanding of how person-centred care can be delivered in challenging situations and to explore how sustainable systems of person-centred care can be developed.