SynthesisBMJ open2018
Definition of whole person care in general practice in the English language literature: a systematic review.
Synthesis in BMJ open, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 46 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
46 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Pooled it
- Integrated Behavioral Interventions for Adults with Comorbid Obesity and Depression: a Systematic Review.Current diabetes reports · 2022Pooled it
- Exploring trauma-informed prenatal care preferences through diverse pregnant voices.BMC health services research · 2025Trial
- Degree of Behavioral Health Integration and Patient Outcomes.Journal of the American Board of Family Medicine : JABFMTrial
- Just Semantics? How Diagnostic Criteria Influence Physician-Patient Narratives in Alzheimer's Disease.Neuro-degenerative diseases · 2026Article
- "We Don't Normally Go Down This Avenue; This Is Normally Taboo": Using Co-Design to Develop a Training Intervention for Spiritual Health in Primary Care.Health expectations : an international journal of public participation in health care and health policy · 2026Article
- Ten Healthcare Delivery Trends and Their Measurement and Methodological Implications for Cancer Health Services Research.Health services research · 2026Article
- Development of BreeZe: a self-management support intervention for burn survivors informed by evidence, theory, and stakeholder co-creation.BMC health services research · 2025Article
- Fulfilling end-of-life dreams: A scoping review of bucket lists in palliative and hospice care.Palliative & supportive care · 2025Article
- Measuring Whole Person Health: A Scoping Review.Journal of integrative and complementary medicine · 2025Article
- Coordinated empathy in attending general practitioners: an interpretive phenomenological approach to constructing a conceptual model of empathy.BMC primary care · 2025Article
- Barriers and enablers to a healthy lifestyle in people with infertility: a qualitative descriptive study.Reproductive biology and endocrinology : RB&E · 2025Article
- Integration as innovation in healthcare systems.Healthcare management forum · 2025Article
- Role of general practitioner-led rural community hospitals in Sweden: a qualitative study.BMJ open · 2025Article
- Fostering transformative learning and whole patient care among teaching hospital staff through artistic creation: a qualitative study.BMC medical education · 2025Article
- Article
- Development, Validity, and Reliability of Three Instruments to Assess Holistic Care from Different Perspectives.Journal of multidisciplinary healthcare · 2025Article
- A Perspective on the Measurement of Whole Person Health.Medical care · 2024Article
- Exploring the nurse-patient relationship in caring for the health priorities of older adults: qualitative study.BMC nursing · 2024Article
- Storylines of family medicine IX: people and places-diverse populations and locations of care.Family medicine and community health · 2024Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectivesThe importance of 'whole person' or 'holistic' care is widely recognised, particularly with an increasing prevalence of chronic multimorbidity internationally. This approach to care is a defining feature of general practice. However, its precise meaning remains ambiguous. We aimed to determine how the term 'whole person' care is understood by general practitioners (GPs), and whether it is synonymous with '[w]holistic' and 'biopsychosocial' care.
designSystematic literature review.
methodsMEDLINE, PubMed, EMBASE, CINAHL, PsycINFO, Web of Science, Proquest Dissertations and Theses, Science.gov (Health and Medicine database), Google Scholar and included studies' reference lists were searched with an unlimited date range. Systematic or literature reviews, original research, theoretical articles or books/book chapters; specific to general practice; relevant to the research question; and published in English were included. Included literature was critically appraised, and data were extracted and analysed using thematic synthesis.
resultsFifty publications were included from 4297 non-duplicate records retrieved. Six themes were identified: a multidimensional, integrated approach; the importance of the therapeutic relationship; acknowledging doctors' humanity; recognising patients' individual personhood; viewing health as more than absence of disease; and employing a range of treatment modalities. Whole person, biopsychosocial and holistic terminology were often used interchangeably, but were not synonymous.
conclusionsWhole person, holistic and biopsychosocial terminology are primarily characterised by a multidimensional approach to care and incorporate additional elements described above. Whole person care probably represents the closest representation of the basis for general practice. Health systems aiming to provide whole person care need to address the challenge of integrating the care of other health professionals, and maintaining the patient-doctor relationship central to the themes identified. Further research is required to clarify the representativeness of the findings, and the relative importance GPs' assign to each theme. PROSPERO REGISTRATION NUMBER: CRD42017058824.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.