Beyond experiential knowledge: a classification of patient knowledge
A narrative review challenged the dominant model of knowledge in medicine and healthcare, and classified the forms of knowledge that patients acquire, develop and mobilize throughout their care journey.
21 August 2024
In 2024, the article Beyond experiential knowledge: a classification of patient knowledge was published. Vincent Dumez, co-director and patient partner of the Unité de soutien SSA Québec’s Partnership axis, is one of the authors.
Vincent Dumez, Patient Director and Scientific Co-director, Centre d’Excellence sur le Partenariat avec les Patients et le Public (CEPPP) and Unité de soutien SSA du Québec
Audrey L’Espérance, Professeure adjointe en gestion de la santé et des services sociaux, École nationale d’administration publique
Context
Patient experiential knowledge is increasingly documented as a valid form of knowledge in the healthcare sector, and is often seen as a valuable source of information to complement the knowledge of healthcare professionals. Although this increased recognition is highlighted in the scientific literature and formalized in certain organizational and clinical contexts, it remains difficult for the various players in the healthcare ecosystem to define the different forms of knowledge that patients acquire through their experience and to consider them as essential in the co-construction of care plans and as an asset for establishing care relationships.
Method
The aim of this narrative review is twofold:
To challenge the dominant model of knowledge in medicine and healthcare by making the different forms of patient knowledge more explicit and tangible.
To provide a better understanding of what experiential knowledge consists of, by classifying the different forms of knowledge that patients acquire, develop and mobilize throughout their healthcare journey.
Results
Six categories of patient knowledge were, according to this review, described at length by the health science and social science literature:
embodied knowledge
monitoring knowledge
navigation knowledge
medical knowledge
relational knowledge
cultural knowledge
The three main sources of learning – the self, the system and the community – form the basis of the learning process for patients on their healthcare journey.
