Integrated Person-Centered Health Services: Translating Learnings from the HIV Response to Pave the Way to Universal Health Coverage

The HIV response has pioneered integrated person-centered health services—an approach to health services that puts people and communities at the center of health systems and empowers “people to take charge of their own health rather than being passive recipients of care.”   
 
Now, as countries prioritize primary health care as the foundation for achieving Universal Health Coverage (UHC), experts recommend expanding HIV-related integrated care, within HIV service platforms and in broader primary health care, to strengthen the HIV response and bring the world closer to ending AIDS as a public health threat.  
 
An integrated person-centered care (IPCC) approach is essential for several reasons. Not only can IPCC enable superior care, but it can also accelerate momentum towards UHC by removing deterrents to service access and utilization, especially among populations that have historically been marginalized and left out of mainstream healthcare. By tailoring health services to the needs and circumstances of individual people, families, and communities, IPCC seeks to motivate people to seek care, keep people engaged in care, and ensure the best possible health outcomes.  
 
Following through on the commitment to end AIDS can help unearth broader lessons from the HIV response to inform person-centered health systems that drive health for all. This report, co-published by Friends of the Global Fight, PATH, and JSI, identifies key lessons learned from the HIV response, offers future recommendations to help chart a way forward toward broader implementation of IPCC, and concludes with an action plan highlighting critical next steps that need to be taken to scale IPCC. Learn more about person-centered care. 

Related Resources: 

• Person-Centered Care Assessment Tool
• Integrating Person-Centered Care in HIV Treatment