Patient Health Engagement (PHE) model in enhanced recovery after surgery (ERAS): monitoring patients’ engagement and psychological resilience in minimally invasive thoracic surgery

In the last decade, the humanization of medicine has contributed to an important shift in medical paradigms (from a doctor-centered to a patient-centered approach to care). This paradigm shift promoted a greater acknowledgement of patient engagement as a crucial asset for healthcare due to its benefits on both clinical outcomes and healthcare sustainability. Particularly, patient engagement should be considered a vital parameter for the healthcare system as well as it is a marker of the patients’ ability to be resilient to the illness experience and thus to be an effective manager of his/her own health after the diagnosis. For this reason, measuring and promoting patient engagement both in chronic and acute care is today a priority for healthcare systems all over the world. In this contribution, the authors propose the Patient Health Engagement (PHE) model and the PHE scale as scienti c and reliable tools to orient clinical actions and organizational strategies based on the patient engagement score. Particularly, this work discusses the implication of the adoption of these scienti c tools in the enhanced recovery after surgery (ERAS) experience and their potentialities for healthcare professionals working in thoracic surgery settings.