Scottish university launches Master’s program in person-centered care

At one Scottish university, person-centered care isn’t just a practice model, it’s a Master’s degree.

Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh, built the MSc in Person-centred Practice program to provide advanced education on some of healthcare’s toughest medical decision situations, including dementia care, palliative care and hospice services. The program is the first of its kind in the country.

The university’s nursing school and local providers are joining the program as teachers, giving students a real-life look at caregiving challenges. St. Columba Hospice, an Edinburgh provider of hospice services and education, collaborated previously with the university on a graduate program in palliative care and is now providing lecturers for the new degree program.

The program degree is a reflection of the new focus on person-centered care and the role of the patient in his or her own medical decisions, said Bill Lawson, head of the program. “We’re proud to be taking a lead in putting person-centred practice at the heart of higher education in Scotland and internationally,” he said in a university announcement. “Our new programme aims to enable practitioners from different work backgrounds to contribute to the health and well-being of persons, groups and populations in a way that is consistent with the values of person-centredness. Students can personalise their learning to their own situation, whether it’s mental health, social care, infection control, acute care and community health. International students are particularly welcome as they offer a varied and different perspective to the context in which the learning occurs.”

Pamela Tabar

Pamela Tabar was editor-in-chief of I Advance Senior Care from 2013-2018. She has worked as a writer and editor for healthcare business media since 1998, including as News Editor of Healthcare Informatics. She has a master’s degree in journalism from Kent State University and a master’s degree in English from the University of York, England.