Care relationship and interaction between patients and ambulance clinicians: A qualitative meta-synthesis from a person-centred perspective.

Background: Ambulance care is characterised by disaster medicine, traumatology and care for acute illnesses and accidents. The focus of ambulance care is clearly on medical care, whereas interpersonal interaction between patients and ambulance clinicians appears less prioritised. A patient within ambulance care needs to be listened to, be taken seriously, be treated with empathy and be seen as a unique person. These are fundamental to delivering Person-centred care.

Aim: The purpose is to describe how the care relationship and interaction between patients and ambulance clinicians in prehospital emergency care are described in the literature and how they can be interpreted from a person-centred perspective.

Data sources and review methods: A qualitative meta-synthesis was used. Data collection was carried out with PubMed, CINAHL Plus and Web of Science in September-October 2022 and in August-September 2023. The first article searching applied a timeline 1990-2022 and the second applied a timeline 2022-2023. A total of 13 studies employing a qualitative approach were evaluated and included in the interpretive analysis.

Results: Three themes were identified: A good care relationship, Decision-making and Hindrances to practising person-centred care in ambulance care. Trust, good communication and respect for patients' dignity were the most important parts of the good care relationship between patients and ambulance clinicians. Decision-making regarding the examination of patients, medical treatment and transport to the receiving care unit was one of the tasks that ambulance clinicians do independently but in cooperation with patients and family members. Person-centred care within ambulance care may be hindered due to environmental factors, attitudes and behaviour of ambulance clinicians and patient-related factors.

Conclusion: Many ambulance clinicians have already adopted Person-centred care, but several factors can hinder Person-centred care in interactions with patients. Although the results build on a limited number of studies, they indicate that person-centred care needs to be further developed and studied for high-quality ambulance care.