Skip to main content

Table 1 Definitions

From: Patient engagement strategies for adults with chronic conditions: an evidence map

Patient and Family Engagement (PFE)

Patients, families, their representatives, and health professionals working in active partnership at various levels across the health care system—direct care, organizational design and governance, and policymaking—to improve health and health care” [ 5 ]. In addition, we used the term PFE to represent engagement of the patient and family, as well as non-family caregivers, who the patient deems part of his or her care.

Chronic diseases

Conditions that last 1 year or more and require ongoing medical attention or limit activities of daily living or both.”

PFE levels

Direct patient-care level strategy is a strategy that directly inform the patients’ own treatment decisions, health behaviors, or outcomes; a health system level strategy is one that engages patients in efforts that have an impact beyond their own health care such as improving health care quality; community-policy level strategy is one that engages patients, consumers, or citizens in policymaking or that engages communities in health care policies.

Benefits categorization for reported findings

‘Positive effects’ describe a study where the authors made clear unequivocal statements about an overall positive effect of the reviewed interventions; ‘potential benefits’ reported when the authors mentioned likely benefits; ‘unclear benefits’ when the authors were inconclusive; and ‘harms’ when the authors reported harm from the reviewed interventions.