EMPOWERMENT

A foundational theme for patient empowerment as a long-term solution for behavioral change and adaptations for self-management requires a restructuring of oneself. Insightful reflection of personal contextual factors enables a psychological experience toward personal transformation. Empowerment must be viewed as a transformative process built on the validation of the patient’s initial sense of powerlessness and associated contextual factors (Aujoulat et al., 2008). Personal empowerment is highlighted by personal contextual factors that help fully define its application. The specific factors that help define empowerment include suffering, meaning & purpose, motivation, resilience, energy-efficiency, and self-efficacy. These personal contextual factors are associated with internal control and external resources required for self-determined goals. These specific factors are critical variables for a full realization of patient empowerment. The argument is sustained by the recognition that therapeutic alliance (TA) and patient centered care (PCC) have not fully explored these contextual factors. TA and PCC that validate these variables through empathic and collaborative communication that builds an essential trust required to assist the transformation. Authentic communication with emotional engagement harnesses active patient participation and serves as an antecedent to empowerment. The consequence of active patient participation with co-creative knowledge is autonomy, competence, relatedness, and intrinsic motivation. Autonomy, competence, and relatedness are antecedents to self-efficacy. These antecedents lead to behavioral change, which harnesses self-efficacy to execute action and self-regulation to maintain that action. Further, self-efficacy, self-mastery, and energy efficiency reflect attributes and consequences of successful [patient] empowerment. These interchangeable concepts and personal contextual factors offer a strategic application, support a comprehensive understanding, and frame this contribution for a consensus definition of empowerment for healthcare providers in rehabilitation settings.