Vision
Healthcare that reflects the whole person.
Healthcare decisions consistently reflect the whole person, resulting in better experiences, better outcomes, and stronger partnerships across the healthcare system.
About the Center for Person-Centered Care
Healthcare for people who live in the real world, not in a medical chart.
The Center for Person-Centered Care develops practical education, applied research, implementation resources, and collaborative partnerships that help healthcare better reflect the realities of people's lives. We believe better healthcare begins with understanding the whole person, not just the diagnosis.
Our Purpose
Why We Exist
Healthcare decisions are influenced by far more than medical information alone. People's daily lives, environments, relationships, priorities, resources, and experiences all shape their health and their ability to follow care plans.
Yet these realities are often overlooked.
The Center for Person-Centered Care exists to help bridge that gap by creating practical resources that help patients, providers, health plans, educators, and organizations better understand and apply person-centered care in everyday practice.
Our Principles
What We Believe
Every Person Has a Story
Healthcare decisions should begin with understanding the person's experiences, goals, strengths, and challenges.
Context Matters
Health is shaped by everyday life, not only by diagnoses or clinical data.
Partnership Improves Care
Patients, families, providers, and organizations achieve better outcomes when they work together.
Person-Centered Care Should Be Practical
Our goal is not simply to promote person-centered care, but to make it easier to implement.
Vision and Mission
Mission
Turning principles into everyday practice.
To advance person-centered care through practical education, applied research, implementation resources, and collaborative partnerships that help healthcare better reflect the realities of people's lives.
What Guides Us
Our Values
Person-Centered
Every decision begins with the person.
Practical
We create resources people can use immediately.
Evidence-Informed
We use research, evidence, and lived experience to inform and strengthen our work.
Collaborative
Meaningful change happens through partnership.
Understandable
We communicate complex healthcare concepts in ways that are clear, practical, and easy to understand.
Innovative
We explore better ways to solve healthcare challenges.
Respectful
Every person's experiences and priorities matter.
Continuous Learning
We continually improve our work by learning from research, evidence, user feedback, and lived experience.
What Makes Us Different
How We Advance Person-Centered Care
Our work brings together person-centered principles, education, research, practical resources, and implementation support. These interconnected areas inform and strengthen one another, helping us develop tools and knowledge that support better healthcare experiences.
Person-Centered Principles
Grounded in respect, partnership, and understanding the whole person.
Education
Building knowledge and skills for patients, professionals, and organizations.
Research & Evidence
Using research, evidence, and feedback to continually improve our work.
Practical Resources
Creating practical tools that help people apply person-centered care every day.
Implementation Support
Helping organizations adopt, adapt, and sustain person-centered approaches.
Improved Care Experiences
Supporting better healthcare experiences through practical, evidence-informed approaches.
Better healthcare happens when science, context, and systems come together.
What's Next
Looking Ahead
We are building a national resource for practical education, applied research, and implementation that helps healthcare organizations move beyond discussing person-centered care to putting it into everyday practice.
ABOUT THE DIRECTOR
Cynthia Overton, PhD
Executive Director,
Center for Person-Centered Care
Cynthia Overton, PhD, is the Executive Director of the Center for Person-Centered Care, a program of the Wellness, Workplaces, and Communities Initiative, Inc. She is an author, educator, and strategist dedicated to advancing practical approaches that help patients, providers, health plans, and communities put person-centered care into practice.
Drawing on her own experiences navigating the healthcare system after a life-changing spinal cord injury, Cynthia brings a unique perspective that combines lived experience with research, education, and systems thinking. Her work focuses on helping healthcare organizations better understand the realities people face outside the clinical setting and use that understanding to improve communication, decision-making, and care.
Cynthia is the author of Clear Cane Chronicles: Shaping the Future of Healthcare Through Person-Centered Care and creator of practical resources, educational programs, and visual tools that make person-centered care more actionable and accessible. She also teaches, speaks nationally, and partners with organizations committed to improving healthcare experiences and outcomes.
Her vision for the Center is simple: to help create a healthcare system where every decision begins with the right context and every person is seen as more than a medical chart.
Author
Clear Cane Chronicles
Educator
Teaching and curriculum development
Speaker
National talks and training
Partner
Collaborating for better healthcare