Person‐Centered Care: A Definition and Essential Elements

Improving healthcare safety, quality, and coordination, as well as quality of life, are important aims of caring for older adults with multiple chronic conditions and/or functional limitations. Person‐centered care is an approach to meeting these aims, but there are no standardized, agreed‐upon parameters for delivering such care. The SCAN Foundation charged a team from the American Geriatrics Society ( AGS ) in collaboration with a research and clinical team from the Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California to provide the evidence base to support a definition of person‐centered care and its essential elements. An interprofessional panel of experts in person‐centered care principles and practices that the AGS convened developed this statement.