Hospital practices for the implementation of patient partnership in a multi-national European region

Background: The extent to which patients are involved in their care can be influenced by hospital policies and interventions. Nevertheless, the implementation of patient participation and involvement (PPI) at the organisational (meso) level has rarely been assessed systematically. The aim of this study was to assess the occurrence of PPI practices in hospitals in Belgium, France, Germany and Luxembourg and to analyze if, and to what extent, the hospital vision and the presence of a patient committee influence the implementation of PPI practices. Methods: A cross-sectional study was carried out using an online questionnaire in hospitals in the border regions of the four countries. The data were analyzed for differences between regions and the maturity of PPI development. Results: Full responses were obtained from 64 hospitals. A wide range of practices were observed, the degree of maturity was mixed. A majority of hospitals promoted patient partnership in the hospital’s philosophy of care statement. However, the implementation of specific interventions for PPI was not found uniformly and differences could be observed between the countries. Conclusions: Hospitals in the region seem to be motivated to include patients more fully, however, implementation of PPI interventions seems incomplete and only partially integrated into the general functioning of the hospitals. The implementation of the concept seems to be more mature in the francophone part of the region perhaps due, in part, to a more favourable political context.