THE PATIENT-PARTNER CONCEPT, FROM IMPLICIT TO EXPLICIT

Abstract

The concept of patient partner Is becoming increasingly explicit since the law of 4 March 2002 on the patients’ rights and the Healthcare system’s quality. Beyond the human qualities of listening and empathy, the partner relationship forces the healthcare professional to continuously create the bond of trust. Narrative medicine is increasingly rehabilitated by letting the patient tell what he’s experiencing, by providing him simple information, adapted to his level of understanding and his life course. This patient becomes an actor in his health by taking part of the co-construction of clinical reasoning and the dynamic of care adaptation. Experience knowledge, complementary to scientific knowledge are collected in a quantitative, but also qualitative form, from the verbalizations identified in the experience stories.