BACKGROUND: There is growing emphasis on the need for ensuring person-centred care for patients living with chronic kidney disease as this will benefit patients, providers, and healthcare systems alike. Nevertheless, less emphasis is given to how this complex concept is practiced in clinical encounters and how it is experienced by patients. This qualitative multi-perspective study investigates how person-centred care for people living with chronic kidney disease is practiced and experienced by patients in clinical encounters at a nephrological ward at a hospital in the capital region of Denmark.

METHODS: The study builds upon qualitative methodologies, including field notes from observations of clinical encounters between clinicians and patients in an out-patient clinic (n = ~ 80) and in-person interviews with patients in peritoneal dialysis (n = 4). Key themes from field notes and interview transcripts were identified through thematic analysis. Analyses were informed by practice theory.

RESULTS: Findings illustrate that person-centred care is practiced in a relational and situational encounter between patients and clinicians as dialogues about choice of treatment modality, which is shaped by the individual's life circumstances, preferences, and values. The practice of person-centred care appeared to be complex and interlinked with a range of factors, individual to each patient. We identified three themes of relevance for practices and experiences related to person-centred care: (1) Patients' perceptions of living with chronic kidney disease. Perceptions differed according to medical history, life situation and prior experiences with treatment in the healthcare system. These patient-related factors were perceived to be important for person-centred care to unfold; (2) Relations between patients and healthcare professionals were important for patients' experiences of trust and appeared fundamental for the practice and experiences of person-centred care; and (3) Decision-making on treatment modality that is the best fit for each patient's everyday life, appear to be shaped by the patient's need for knowledge about treatment modalities and level of self-determination in the decision-making.

CONCLUSIONS: The context of clinical encounters influences the practices and experiences of person-centred care, where health policies and lack of embodiment are identified as barriers for providing and experiencing person-centred care.