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European general practitioners' attitudes towards person-centred care and factors that influence its implementation in everyday practice: The protocol of the cross-sectional PACE GP/FP study in 24 European countries

. 2025 Dec ; 31 (1) : 2463630. [epub] 20250226

Language English Country England, Great Britain Media print-electronic

Document type Journal Article

BACKGROUND: Person-centred care (PCC) is a fundamental principle in general practice, emphasising practices tailored to individual patient preferences, needs, and values. Despite the importance of PCC, general practitioners (GPs) face obstacles in effectively implementing it, with associated factors remaining unclear. OBJECTIVES: The PACE GP/FP study aims to explore GPs' attitudes towards PCC and the factors facilitating or hindering its implementation in daily practice across European countries. This paper outlines the PACE GP/FP study protocol. METHODS: The cross-sectional design with data collection via an online survey distribution to GPs in 24 European countries. Study instruments include two validated questionnaires (Perceived Stress Scale (PSS) and Patient Physician Orientation Scale (PPOS)) and additional items covering general information about the doctor and their practice, as well as facilitators and barriers to PCC. These additional items were specifically developed for the study, translated using the forward-backward method, evaluated through cognitive debriefing, and integrated into the REDCap platform to create language and country-specific survey links. The STROBE checklist guides the reporting of the manuscript. CONCLUSION: The PACE GP/FP study will provide a comprehensive exploration of GPs' attitudes towards PCC and the factors shaping its practice in Europe. The findings from the PACE GP/FP study will provide evidence for designing future implementation strategies and guide targeted interventions to promote PCC in primary care across Europe.

'Matrona Antonia Mesa Fernández' Health Center Cabra Clinical Management Unit AGS South of Córdoba Córdoba Spain

1st Faculty of Medicine Institute of General Practice Charles University Prague Czech Republic

Aragones Group of Research in Primary Health Care Zaragoza Spain

Azienda Unità Sanitaria Locale di Modena Laboratorio EduCare University of Modena and Reggio Emilia Modena Italy

Biocruces Bizkaia Health Research Institute Barakaldo Bizkaia Spain

Center for Public Health and Healthcare Hannover Medical School Hannover Germany

Center of General Practice Tampere University Hospital Tampere Finland

Centre for family medicine Family Medicine St Cyril and Methodius University Skopje North Macedonia

Cerrahpasa Faculty of Medicine Istanbul University Cerrahpasa Cerrahpaşa Fatih İstanbul Turkey

Comprehensive Health Research Centre Person Centred Research Group NOVA Medical School Lisbon Portugal

Department of Clinical Pharmacology and Pharmacy EMGO Institute for Health and Care Research VU University Medical Center Amsterdam the Netherlands

Department of Family Medicine Ankara University School of Medicine Ankara Turkey

Department of Family Medicine Bursa Uludag University Bursa Turkey

Department of Family Medicine Jagiellonian University Medical College Kraków Poland

Department of Family Medicine Medical Faculty University of Ljubljana Ljubljana Slovenia

Department of Family Medicine Medical Faculty University of Maribor Maribor Slovenia

Department of Family Medicine School of Medicine University of Split Split Croatia

Department of Family Medicine School of Medicine University of Zagreb Zagreb Croatia

Department of Family Medicine Semmelweis University Budapest Hungary

Department of Family Medicine UJCM at Uniwersytet Jagielloński Collegium Medicum Kraków Poland

Department of General Practice and Nursing Science Julius Centre for Health Sciences and Primary Care University Medical Centre Utrecht Utrecht University Utrecht The Netherlands

Department of General Practice Institute of Health and Society University of Oslo Oslo Norway

Department of General Practice University of Lille Lille France

Department of Hygiene Social Preventive Medicine and Medical Statistics School of Medicine Aristotle University of Thessaloniki Thessaloniki Greece

Department of Medical Statistics Epidemiology and Medical Informatics School of Medicine University of Zagreb Zagreb Croatia

Department of Medicine Psychiatry and Dermatology Faculty of Medicine University of Zaragoza Zaragoza Spain

Department of Physiatry and Nursing University of Zaragoza Zaragoza Spain

Department of Primary Care Medicine Center for Public Health Medical University of Vienna Vienna Austria

Department of Psychology Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences University J J Strossmayer in Osijek Osijek Croatia

Department of Public Health and Primary Care Ghent University Ghent Belgium

Department Urology and General Practice Faculty of Medicine Medical University of Plovdiv Plovdiv Bulgaria

Division of General Practice 3rd Faculty of Medicine Charles University Prague Prague Czechia

Dr Adolf Drolc Health Center Maribor Maribor Slovenia

Exeter Collaboration for Academic Primary Care University of Exeter Exeter United Kingdom

Faculty of Medicine and Health technology Tampere University Tampere Finland

Faculty of Medicine Department of Family Medicine Dokuz Eylul University Izmir Turkey

Faculty of Medicine Institut of Family Medicine JKU Linz Linz Austria

Faculty of Medicine University of Belgrade Belgrade Serbia

Federica Montseny Health Centre Gerencia Asistencial Atención Primaria Servicio Madrileño de Salud Madrid Spain

Health Center 'Dr Đorđe Kovačević' Belgrade Serbia

Health Centre Zagreb Centar Zagreb Croatia

Health Centre Zagreb West Zagreb Croatia

Ikerbasque Basque Foundation for Science Bilbao Spain

Institute of General Practice Faculty of Medicine University of Halle Wittenberg Halle Saale Germany

Instituto de Investigación Sanitaria Gregorio Marañón Madrid Spain

Irish College of General Practitioners Dublin Ireland

Kinetic Therapy and Special Motricity 'Spiru Haret' University Bucharest Romania

Ljubljana Community Health Centre Ljubljana Slovenia

Local Health Authority of Modena Modena Italy

Macedonaian Medical Association Skopje North Macedonia

Maimonides Institute for Biomedical Research of Córdoba Reina Sofía University Hospital Córdoba University Córdoba Spain

Medical Faculty University of Tuzla Tuzla Bosnia and Herzegovina

National Institute of Environmental Health Semmelweis University Budapest Hungary

NOVA Medical School Lisbon Portugal

Public Health Center 'Dr M Sehovic' Tuzla Tuzla Bosnia and Herzegovina

Quality and Safety Ghent Department of Public Health and Primary Care Ghent University Ghent Belgium

Split Dalmatia Health Center Split Croatia

The College of Family Physicians in Poland Warsaw Poland

Unidade de Saúde Familiar Jardim dos Plátanos Unidade Local de Saúde de Lisboa Ocidental Lisbon Portugal

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