Family participation in maintaining human dignity of patients

Abstract

In order to establish who are those who form part of this health care team, one must keep in mind that nowadays it is strongly recommended that healthcare delivery systems become patientcentered rather that clinical or disease centered. In this case, it becomes evident that among health providers, the patient's family plays an important role. Studies show that "including and embracing family as an integral part of the multiple professional team are essential for the timely restoration of health or optimising the dying process for the critically ill patients. As a matter of fact support for the psychological and spiritual health of the family is an essential component of the patient-centered care for the ill and literature shows that abroad, hospitals have set up structures such as a "Family-Patient Advisory Council" to promote and enhance the communication processes between staff and patients/families; to assist staff to effectively communicate treatment protocols and services that are available!