Glossary / Lexicon

Patient empowerment is a concept that has recently emerged in the health scene. It embraces the idea that patients have the right to make their own choices about their health care. The empowerment model is based on the assumption that to be truly healthy, people must bring about changes not only in their personal behavior but also in their social situations and in the environment that influences their lives. This empowerment model has evolved out of the realization that patients cannot be forced to follow a lifestyle dictated by others.