A theoretical foundation for person-centred practice across healthcare contexts

Person-centredness remains widely adopted yet inconsistently defined across healthcare disciplines, limiting rigorous implementation and evaluation. Humanising Healthcare presents the Person-centred Nursing Framework and Person-centred Practice Framework, two globally adopted mid-range theories translated into multiple languages. Applied in over 31 countries, these theories guide design, delivery, and assessment of person-centred practices.

Central to this book is an extensive evidence-base of collaborative research derived from these frameworks, alongside measurement and evaluation methods for assessing processes and outcomes. Chapters address philosophical and conceptual ideas underpinning person-centredness, ecological perspectives on health and care systems, workforce developments for effective care provision, and implementation perspectives that adopt a whole-systems approach. Through this collected body of work, the book addresses the challenging problem of adopting, implementing and sustaining person-centred practice cultures at scale.

Readers will also find:

• Detailed analysis of how person-centred principles underpin healthcare policy, strategy, and service-delivery models across international systems
• Practical examples of workplace culture change using the frameworks as decision-making guides for healthcare teams
• Discussion of public engagement strategies that develop healthcare services responsive to individual patient and community need
• Methods for articulating the distinctive contribution of person-centred practices to patient, family, and system outcomes

This book is designed for qualified healthcare practitioners, educators, and students engaged in research, practice development, or evidence-based practice. It provides the theoretical foundations and applied frameworks needed to advance person-centred practices in healthcare organisations, systems, and education programmes.

Brendan McCormack, RN, DPhil, is Head of School and Dean at The Susan Wakil School of Nursing and Midwifery and Head of the CARE Program, Sydney Policy Lab, University of Sydney,. A Fellow of The American Academy of Nursing and member of The Academia Europaea, he was awarded the 2025 Paul Tournier Prize for Person-centred Healthcare and selected as a Commissioner for the Lancet Commission on People-centred Healthcare led by Harvard University.

Tanya McCance, RN, DPhil, is the Mona Grey Professor of Nursing R&D in the School of Nursing and Paramedic Science, Ulster University. She is a Fellow of the Royal College of Nursing and Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland and was awarded the Royal College of Nursing Nurse of the Year Outstanding Achievement Award and selected as one of 70 influential nurses and midwives in 70 years of the NHS.