Developing and Translating a New Model for Teaching Empowerment Into Routine Chronic Care Management

Background: Health professional education has been criticized for not integrating patient expertise into professional curricula to develop professional skills in patient empowerment. Objective: To develop and translate a new expert patient-centered model for teaching empowerment into professional education about routine chronic care management. Methods: Eight Finnish patients (known as expert patients), 31 students, and 11 lecturers from 4 European countries participated in a new pilot intensive educational module. Thirteen focus groups, artefacts, and an online student evaluation were analyzed using a thematic analysis and triangulated using a meta-matrix. Results: A patient-centered pedagogical model is presented, which describes 3 phases of empowerment: (1) preliminary work, (2) the elements of empowerment, and (3) the expected outcomes. These 3 phases were bound by 2 cross-cutting themes “time” and “enabling resources.” Conclusion: Patient expertise was embedded into the new module curriculum. Using an example of care planning, and Pentland and Feldman’s theory of routine organization, the results are translated into a patient-centered educational model for teaching empowerment to health profession students.