Promoting patient empowerment in chronic care: A scoping review of key facilitating factors.
TL;DR
It is shown that patient empowerment in chronic care can be promoted by multiple factors that appear broadly relevant across chronic conditions and healthcare contexts, and digital tools emerged as important facilitators.
Abstract
Objectives
Chronic conditions represent a growing global health challenge, requiring ongoing management in which patients play an active role. Although patient empowerment is increasingly recognized as important, practical insights on how to support it remain limited. This scoping review aims to identify key factors promoting patient empowerment in managing chronic conditions.
Methods
A literature search was conducted in Medline, Embase, Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL), and Scopus in March 2025. Studies were included if they described factors, strategies, interventions, experiences, or perspectives related to promoting patient empowerment in adults (≥18 years) with chronic conditions (i.e. cardiovascular diseases, osteoarthritis, respiratory conditions, and/or diabetes). Papers focusing on acute conditions, non-empirical work, studies without full-text availability, or those not published in English were excluded. Article screening was conducted using the artificial intelligence (AI)-based tool Automated Systematic Review (ASReview), applying the SAFE procedure to determine an appropriate stopping point.
Results
The literature search yielded 29,929 articles, of which 66 were included in the final analysis. Key factors promoting patient empowerment included knowledge and skills education, personalized care planning and goal setting, social and peer support, patient-provider communication, and (remote) monitoring and follow-up. Additionally, digital tools, such as mobile health applications and online platforms, emerged as important facilitators.
Conclusion
This review shows that patient empowerment in chronic care can be promoted by multiple factors that appear broadly relevant across chronic conditions and healthcare contexts. Digital tools may further strengthen this process. PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS Future efforts should focus on bridging the gap between these theoretical insights and real-world practice.