October was a meaningful month of learning, connection, and celebration as we came together to advance Person-Centered Care (PCC) around the world. Through new resources, inspiring stories, the Planetree PCC Global Forum, podcasts, and webinars, we explored how listening, collaboration, and compassion can transform healthcare experiences for patients, families, caregivers, workforce/staff and communities. While PCC Month brought these conversations to the forefront, the work of advancing person-centered care continues throughout the year.
Bringing Person-Centered Care into Everyday Practice
PCC Month also offered an opportunity to reflect on the practical steps organizations can take to begin or strengthen their person-centered care journey. At its core, Person-Centered Care is compassionate, collaborative care that improves outcomes by focusing on what matters most to everyone involved in healthcare experiences, including patients, families, staff, and the broader community. These five practical steps offer a starting point for organizations looking to put person-centered care into practice, strengthen everyday experiences, and build a culture where patients, families, staff, and communities feel heard, valued, and supported.
Five Practical Steps can help Organizations Translate this Commitment Into Meaningful, Sustainable Action
1. Build a Shared Understanding from the Boardroom to the Bedside
Leaders, board members, executives, and staff across clinical and non-clinical roles all need to understand what person-centered care is, why it matters, and how it supports organizational goals. Experiential learning can help people see care through the perspectives of patients, families, staff, and community members. A core Planetree belief is that "everyone is a caregiver" even if you are not delivering direct clinical care.
2. Connect Person-Centered Care to Organizational Priorities
For person-centered care to be sustainable, it must be integrated into an organization’s strategic plan and cascaded through operational plans and individual performance goals. When this work is connected to shared priorities, advancing it becomes a responsibility across the organization rather than a separate initiative or disconnected strategy.
3. Measure Impact and Bring the Data to Life
Person-Centered Care should be discussed alongside clinical and operational indicators in relevant leadership and management meetings. Quantitative measures are important, but they tell only part of the story. Pairing data with the lived experiences of patients, families, and staff can make the impact more tangible and help inspire meaningful improvements.
4. Engage People as Partners in Co-Creation and Co-Design
Listening to the authentic voices of the people an organization serves is essential. Patient & Family Partnership Councils(PFPCs) and Staff Partnership Councils (SPCs) can create meaningful structures for engagement. These groups are most effective when people are active partners in interpreting feedback, solving problems, and co-designing improvements, not simply being asked to provide comments or feedback.
5. Learn from Others and Sustain Momentum
Person-Centered Care is broad, and lasting change does not happen overnight. Learning from Planetree’s global community gives organizations opportunities to share ideas, seek support, and work through challenges together. A strong network can help teams get started and maintain momentum over time.
These steps reinforce a central message of PCC Month: Person-centered care is both an improvement in organizational performance and cultural transformation. It grows when people’s voices shape decisions, when everyday experiences are treated as valuable evidence, and when compassion is translated into consistent practice.
Resources to Support Person-Centered Care
To help individuals become more informed and engaged partners in their healthcare, Planetree's Global PFPC launched an online collection of Person-centered care resources. These practical tools are designed to help patients, families, and care partners ask questions, share their preferences, and participate more fully in healthcare decisions.
The collection includes:
- How to Be an Engaged Patient: Practical guidance for taking an active role in your care.
- Questions to Ask Your Doctor About Person-Centered Care: Ideas to help patients communicate their needs, values, and preferences.
- Questions to Ask Your Hospital About Person-Centered Care: Guidance for understanding how healthcare organizations put PCC into practice.
- The Planetree Global PFPC Guide to Person-Centered Care: A resource to support meaningful partnerships among patients, families, and care teams.
We also shared a personal blog highlighting how one family's birth experience inspired change and reinforced the importance of valuing families and caregivers as essential partners in care. Stories like these remind us that meaningful transformation often begins by listening to the people most directly affected by healthcare.
Celebrating Person-Centered Care at the Planetree PCC Global Forum 2026
The Planetree PCC Global Forum in Boston brought together healthcare leaders, practitioners, patients, family partners, and advocates from around the world to learn, share ideas, and celebrate the people advancing person-centered care. Under the theme “Together We Ignite a Revolution of Compassion,” the Forum showcased innovative approaches and practical strategies for creating more compassionate, collaborative, and connected healthcare experiences.
Highlights included:
- Global breakout sessions: Participants explored emerging technologies, co-design, family and caregiver partnerships, health equity, patient and staff experiences, clinical collaboration, community engagement, and strategies for building cultures of compassion and connection.
- Pecha Kucha presentations: Through fast-paced, six-minute-and-40-second presentations, speakers brought ideas to life through storytelling and shared fresh perspectives on advancing PCC.
- Spark stage presentations: Colleagues presented bold ideas, practical lessons, and creative approaches to making Person-centered care an integral part of healthcare with 15-minute presentations.
- Poster Alley: Thirty-eight posters highlighted research, quality improvement initiatives, and innovative programs advancing PCC across organizations worldwide.
- Inspiring Exhibitors: Exhibitors showcased products and services to bring ideas and practical ways to bring Person-Centered Care to life
- Celebrating excellence: The Forum also provided an opportunity to recognize the individuals and organizations whose leadership, innovation, and compassion continue to move Person-Centered Care forward.
Together, these experiences demonstrate that meaningful change happens when organizations learn from one another, embrace diverse perspectives, and place the voices and experiences of people at the center of care. See images below from the PCC Global Forum.
{{gallery}}
Continuing the Conversation Through the PCC Podcast
During the PCC Global Forum, Michael Giuliano Raiffe joined Lauren Iannitti, Vice President of Atrium Health Mercy, for a candid executive conversation about what it takes to make person-centered care a sustainable part of everyday hospital operations. They explored leadership commitment, organizational priorities, and practical realities of embedding PCC into care delivery while navigating the many demands facing healthcare leaders today. Their conversation offered valuable insights into how leaders can move beyond individual initiatives to build organizational cultures where person-centered care is reflected in everyday decisions, practices, and interactions.
PCC Webinars: Exploring Perspectives of Person-Centered Care
Throughout PCC Month and beyond, our webinar conversations have explored Person-Centered Care through the perspectives of patients, staff, caregivers and families, and communities. Each conversation highlights the importance of listening, learning from lived experiences, and working together to create better healthcare experiences.
The Patient: What Matters Most to You?
On October 7, 2026, Michael Giuliano Raiffe, Lisa Keitel, and Jonathan T. Hoch, Sr., came together for a conversation focused on the patient's perspective. Drawing on their experiences advancing Person-Centered Care and working alongside patients, families, and care teams, they explored the importance of listening to patients, understanding their unique needs, values, preferences, and lived experiences, and ensuring that every person has a meaningful voice in their care. At the heart of this conversation was a simple but powerful principle: Person-Centered Care begins by asking what matters most to each individual and allowing the answer to guide the care experience.
Explore Patient and Family Resources
Workforce Wellbeing (Staff): Creating Workplaces Where People Feel Valued
Our workforce wellbeing conversation brought attention to an essential part of person-centered care: caring for the people who provide care. Michael Giuliano Raiffe spoke with Jeremy Segall and Tiffany Vasconcellos of NYC Health + Hospitals about the importance of workforce wellbeing and what it takes to create workplaces where staff members feel cared for, valued, and engaged.
The conversation explored why supporting staff is fundamental to building compassionate healthcare environments. When employees feel heard, respected, and supported, they are better positioned to foster meaningful connections and deliver Person-Centered Care experiences.
Watch the Workforce Wellbeing Webinar
Caregivers and Families: Supporting the People Who Care for Us
On October 27, 2026, Michael Giuliano Raiffe joined Elizabeth Laden and Kelly Egan of Griffin Hospital to discuss the essential role caregivers and families play throughout the healthcare journey.
Drawing on their experience advancing Person-Centered Care and partnering with patients, families, caregivers, and healthcare teams, they explored how healthcare organizations can better recognize, listen to, and support caregivers and families. The conversation emphasized that caregivers and families are more than visitors or sources of information. They are essential partners whose knowledge, experiences, and perspectives can help shape care, support transitions, and improve the healthcare experience for everyone involved.
Watch the Caregivers and Families Webinar
Community: How Do We Create Healthier Communities Together?
While PCC Month 2026 may have ended in October, the conversation continues on November 16, 2026, as we turn our attention to the role communities play in advancing person-centered care. In the next installment of the PCC Exchange Series, Michael Giuliano Raiffe will speak with Matthew Thompson, Chief Culinary Officer and Executive Vice President of Operational Excellence at Culinour, about “How the Tray Became the Most Overlooked Instrument of person-centered care.”
This conversation will explore how something as familiar as a hospital meal tray can become an opportunity to demonstrate respect, honor individual preferences, and create more meaningful experiences. By considering dining through a person-centered lens, healthcare organizations can recognize the many everyday moments in which care, dignity, and connection come together.
Register for the November 16th Community Webinar
Carrying the PCC Month Conversation Forward
PCC Month is an opportunity to celebrate progress, share ideas, and amplify the voices of the people who make Person-Centered Care possible. But its impact extends far beyond a single month. Person-Centered Care requires an ongoing commitment to listening, learning, and partnering with patients, families, caregivers, staff, and communities. It means recognizing each person's unique values, needs, and experiences and ensuring those perspectives help shape decisions, relationships, and care delivery.
Whether through a meaningful conversation with a patient, stronger partnerships with caregivers, a supportive workplace for staff, or a community-wide effort to improve health and wellbeing, every action matters. As we reflect on PCC Month 2026, we invite you to carry these conversations forward, share what you have learned, and continue exploring new ways to put people at the center of care.
Continue the PCC Month conversation! Visit the PCC Month webpage to explore resources, revisit highlights, and stay connected with upcoming webinars and opportunities to advance person-centered care. Together, we can turn compassion into action and make Person-Centered Care not just an aspiration, but an everyday experience for everyone.
