Patients’ Preferences and Priorities for Mental Health Care Services: A Scoping Review

To meet the demand for high-quality care, health care organizations are directing policy and care delivery toward person-centered care. Yet, knowledge of what patients value most in their encounters with the mental health care system is lacking. This scoping review aimed to synthesize the current evidence on patients’ preferences during episodes of care within the mental health care system and to identify categories and subthemes of these preferences.

A comprehensive search of Embase, PubMed, and PsycInfo was conducted in accordance with the revised JBI methodology for scoping reviews. The literature review included studies of inpatients and outpatients (ages ≥18 years) with mental disorders. The primary concepts of interest were patients’ preferences and priorities for mental health care services.

Twenty-seven publications from the period 2000–2022 were included in the scoping review. Ten categories of patient preferences were identified: interactions with health care staff, involvement in care, diagnosis and symptom relief, interpersonal skills of health care staff, access and time, pharmacological treatment, coping and recovery, physical environment, information, and continuity of care. Interactions with health care staff, involvement in care, and diagnosis and symptom relief were most mentioned by patients as important aspects of care.

The scoping review highlighted the importance to patients of their interactions with health care staff. The results can be used to inform decision making for enhancement of person-centered care. Further research should include diagnosis-specific preferences, longitudinal study designs, and a systematic framework to assess patients’ preferences.