Figure 1.

The Care and Learn Model. The two key functions of the system are to care and to learn. Caring starts in response to a problematic situation affecting people (a healthy or sick person or population). The healthcare system must gather information to assess the situation, identify appropriate evidence, and organize a response. The response, using evidence-based practice, entails organizing and mobilizing people, information, and processes, taking into account the community and social contexts. Learning is a continuous function of the system by which all responses are evaluated according to aims relevant to the situation and deemed important by key stakeholders. This evaluation produces practice-based evidence from which stakeholders must draw to adapt healthcare’s response to people’s problematic situations. The model hinges on the participation of people needing care and those responding with care, on the ongoing engagement in the functions of caring and learning, and on their commitment to achieving the aims of these functions.