Patient-Centered Care and Well-Being: Health Communication and Patient Engagement

Dear Colleagues,

We are pleased to invite you to contribute to the Special Issue titled “Patient-Centered Care and Well-Being: Health Communication and Patient Engagement”. In recent years, the essential role of patient-centered care has been increasingly recognized for its contribution to improved health outcomes, enhanced patient satisfaction, and long-term quality of life. At the heart of this approach lies the quality of communication between healthcare providers and patients—a factor that profoundly shapes patients’ understanding of their health, adherence to treatment plans, and emotional resilience throughout the care journey.

As healthcare systems evolve toward more inclusive and participatory models, key concepts such as shared decision-making, therapeutic alliance, and health literacy have become central in both clinical and community settings. Concurrently, the proliferation of digital health technologies—including telemedicine, mobile health applications, and patient portals—has transformed how individuals engage with healthcare professionals and manage their care. Understanding these evolving dynamics is essential to designing healthcare systems that are not only effective but also equitable and centered on the holistic needs and preferences of individuals, including their perceived quality of life.

This Special Issue provides a platform to explore these interdisciplinary challenges and to showcase innovative practices that view patients as active partners in the co-creation of health and well-being.

The aim of this Special Issue is to advance interdisciplinary dialog on how communication shapes patient-centered care, enhances patient engagement, and ultimately contributes to better quality of life across healthcare systems. In alignment with the journal’s focus on health, society, and well-being, this Issue will examine how communication strategies and engagement models affect the delivery, experience, and outcomes of care, from both biomedical and psychosocial perspectives.

We welcome contributions that draw from health communication, medical sociology, behavioral science, psychology, public health, and digital health. We are especially interested in studies that explore how communication and engagement intersect with broader issues such as health equity, access to care, cultural competence, and the digital transformation of healthcare. Ultimately, this Special Issue aims to promote practices and theoretical frameworks that support human-centered care grounded in empathy, dignity, and quality of life.

We welcome original research articles, comprehensive reviews, and conceptual papers using qualitative, quantitative, or mixed-methods approaches. Submissions may address, but are not limited to, the following themes:

• Communication strategies in patient-centered care models;
• Shared decision-making and co-production of care;
• Health literacy and its impact on patient autonomy, outcomes, and quality of life;
• The role of empathy, trust, and relational dynamics in healthcare communication;
• Digital health tools and their influence on patient engagement and self-management;
• Narrative medicine and storytelling in clinical care;
• Communication with vulnerable populations and reducing health disparities;
• Psychosocial well-being and the emotional dimensions of care experiences;
• Quality of life as a core outcome in patient-centered interventions;
• Education and training for healthcare professionals in patient-centered communication;
• Interdisciplinary approaches to designing equitable, patient-centered health systems.

We look forward to receiving your contributions and fostering a vibrant dialog on how communication and engagement can transform healthcare into a more humane, responsive, and life-enhancing domain.

Dr. Pavlos Sarafis
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Healthcare is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2700 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

• Patient-centered care Health communication Patient engagement Shared decision-making Health literacy Therapeutic alliance Digital health tools Patient empowerment Chronic disease management Narrative medicine Psychosocial well-being Quality of life Interdisciplinary approaches Health equity Culturally sensitive communication