Abstract
The patient as partner approach is a modern model of patient engagement that integrates the patients’ knowledge and skills into managing their own health. This study aims to evaluate the benefits and barriers of patient partnership in a healthcare setting. It is a qualitative and interventional study that implemented a patient and family partnership committee (PFPC) at a Lebanese hospital during the COVID-19 pandemic. A purposeful guided
approach was used for sampling, and data was collected by structured questionnaire interviews. Seven PFPC team dynamics building blocks were generated: transparency, support,
motivation, comfortable communication, mutual understanding, equity in positions and
empowerment to participate. Both the patient partners (94%) and healthcare professionals (90%) were satisfied with the PFPC experience. The majority of the healthcare profession-
als (HP) reported a noticeable change in the quality improvement process (QIP) (89%) and approved to standardize the PFPC (93%). The patient partnership benefits were clear, and the PFPC was perceived positively by both patient partners (PP) and HP. PP experienced
distress relief (37%), gained ideas (41%) and felt that their opinion was heard (27%) after PFPC participation. PP reported benefits to hospitalized patients, including respect and
care (63%) and patient satisfaction (20%). The main challenges for PFPC implementation were time availability and conflicts. Lessons from patient partnership can be utilized to
improve the patient care policies in the Lebanese healthcare system. Moreover, developing countries can benefit from the patient partnership approach in their healthcare settings.