Registered Nurses' Association of Ontario

Definition of Person- and Family-Centred Care:

  • In this guideline, the term person applied to the individual with whom health-care providers establish a therapeutic relationship for the purposes of partnering for health. The term is inclusive of the individual and their family.  
  • A person’s “family” includes all those whom the person identifies as significant in his or her life (e.g., parents, caregivers, friends, substitute decision-makers, groups, communities, and populations).
Foundational
Person and Family Centred Care
Background Information