PERSON CENTERED MEDICINE, WELL-BEING AND QUALITY OF LIFE

Background: Person Centered Medicine places the person at the center of the concept of health and as the proper target of health actions. This makes positive health, including wellbeing and quality of life, a matter of high interest among the concepts, procedures and activities of person centered medicine and health. Objectives: This paper is aimed at exploring, documenting and discussing the concepts and procedures for positive health, particularly well-being and quality of life, within the framework of person centered medicine and health. Method: For addressing these objectives, first, a selective review of the literature was conducted concerning the place of positive health within the recognized concepts and practical procedures of the programmatic movement on Person Centered Medicine. Then, a more systematic review of the medical and health literature was conducted on concepts and procedures for addressing and assessing well-being and quality of life within the framework of person centered medicine. Results: Findings concerning positive health developments (particularly involving well-being and quality of life) produced under the aegis of the International College of Person Centered Medicine included, first, its place in the systematic conceptualization of person centered medicine, where it is part and parcel of the principles on ethics commitment and holistic framework, as well as the principlesbased Person-centered Care Index (PCI). Second, positive health is a distinctive and prominent element of the informational domains of the Person-centered Integrative Diagnosis (PID) model, as well as in practical applications such as the Latin American Guide for Psychiatric Diagnosis developed and published by the Psychiatric Association of Latin America (APAL). A second set of findings emerged from a systematic review of the literature on “Person centered medicine, well-being and quality of life”. It yielded 27 papers, dealing with theoretical concepts and instrumentation, which were tabularly analyzed. The concepts of well-being (WB) and quality of life (QoL) tended to be used interchangeably as well as complementarily, with QoL tending to be seen as more encompassing and often incorporating WB. Some major well-being studies have used a group of instruments to cover key aspects of WB. Several encompassing instruments for the assessment of QoL and WB were identified, having a range of features and applications. Among the most frequently used seem to be the WHO-instrument for Quality of Life and the Multicultural Quality of Life Index. Discussion: The importance ascribed to positive health is growing internationally, with particular focus on WB and QoL. This is illustrated by the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals, which formulates its Goal on Health in terms of promoting healthy lives and well-being for all. Conclusions: The importance of QoL and WB in the health field in general and in particular for person-centered medicine has been well documented. Some useful and encompassing instruments for assessing these concepts have been elucidated, which have general applicability and are substantially validated internationally.