A patient-centered intervention for people with serious mental illnesses is defined as:
An organized process of care or service delivery that is directed by the person receiving services. Care and services are delivered collaboratively, attentively, and compassionately, with providers as partners who understand and respond to the person’s perspectives, culture, and concerns. The delivery process is structured to educate, inform, guide, and assist the person to be a knowledgeable consumer of the services relevant to attaining the person’s self-defined needs, goals, and outcomes, taking into account the person’s individual circumstances.
All individuals, including those who have been diagnosed with a serious mental illness, have the right to direct their own care. People who are limited in their ability to direct their care as a result of acute symptoms or legal constraints should be provided with the support necessary to make as many care-direction decisions as possible. If a person is unable to make informed
choices about his/her care, providers will rely on historically expressed preferences and values and, when available, psychiatric advance directives and designated surrogates to maximize the person’s participation in decision-making about services and treatment. Care decisions made for persons when they are unable to direct their own care should be based on the premise that such decisions will enable those persons to make future choices about their care. Care and services provided to service users should take into account available scientific knowledge and the resources of the service system.
Green, Estroff, Yarborough, Spofford, Solloway, Kitson & Perrin, 2014.