Table 2.

Overview of the categories describing patient centered communication and their interconnectedness

The patient centered consultation
1 Shared problem defining [19–23]
1.1 Involve the patient in the consultation [20, 21, 23–28]
1.2 Explore and understand the patient’s perspective [19–22, 24–26, 28–32]
1.3 Consider patient’s situation [24, 27, 28, 33, 34]
2. Shared decision making [20, 22–24, 26, 27, 30, 32, 33, 35, 36]
2.1 Inform the patient [20, 21, 25–28, 31, 33, 34]
2.2 Consider options and preferences [23, 25, 27, 28, 31, 33]
2.3 Choose management plan [19, 21, 22, 28, 31, 33]
2.3.1 Action planning [21, 24, 27–29]
2.3.2 Enable self-management [19, 23, 30, 31, 35]
2.3.3 Agreement check [21, 24, 29]

Underlying concepts and assumptions about patient centredness
Related to the patient
3.1 Biopsychosocial perspective [21, 22, 35, 36]
3.2 Patient as a person [20, 32, 35, 36]
3.3 Health promotion [19, 20, 32]
Related to the health care provider
4.1 The health care provider as a person [21, 24, 29, 36]
4.2 Required skills [23, 27, 34, 35]
4.3 Empathy (open to emotions) [23, 25–28, 31]
Related to the therapeutic relation
5.1 Building a relation [19–21, 27, 29, 32, 34]
5.2 Therapeutic alliance [31, 35, 36]
5.3 Trust [27, 31, 34]
5.4 Handling within the given context [19, 32]