Official websites use. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites. Questions or comments about this paper should be directed to namleadershipconsortium nas. Learn more: nam. To do so effectively requires engaging people as a partnership proposition in all elements of health system structure and function. Patients, families, and communities represent a wide-ranging group of individuals and populations contending with a host of health conditions and engaging in the health system for prevention, screening, diagnosis, and treatment.
Yet patients, families, and communities are not simply passive recipients of health services—they are also active partners in scientific research, collaborators for shared decision making in care and related matters, and advocates for the population health priorities salient to their communities. The report concluded that community-driven solutions are necessary, as communities are in a unique position to drive priorities and actions tailored to their needs that address many of the determinants of health [ ].
In addition, the enhanced engagement of patients, families, and communities has been encouraged as a strategy in health policy change, research, and care delivery to improve the quality of care and drive health equity [ ]. Orienting the different health system sectors around the experiences, needs, and considerations of patients, families, and communities is a necessary precondition to achieve the values of equity, efficiency, and effectiveness.
Unfortunately, the U. Indeed, life expectancy in America has declined in recent years, a stark contrast with trends in other high-income countries [ ]. Additionally, before the start of the COVID pandemic, the United States grappled with other challenges, such as the misdiagnosis of patients and medical errors leading to thousands of preventable deaths each year [ 9 , ]. Rather than occupying the center of the health system, many patients, families, and communities have been relegated to the periphery, as evidenced by challenges in achieving population health.
The virus has taken a tremendous toll on the health of these groups, with 45,, cases, 3,, hospitalizations, and , deaths in the United States as of October 27, [ ]. Altogether, the cumulative health effects of COVID precipitated a full-year decline in average life expectancy in the United States during The pandemic has also erupted the existing fault lines of race and class in the health system.
