Citizen Health Care

A Model for Engaging Patients, Families, and Communities as Coproducers of Health

Doherty, William J. PhD
Mendenhall, Tai J. PhD

¹Department of Family Social Science, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, Minnesota
²Department of Family Medicine and Community Health, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota.

³Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to William J., Doherty, PhD, Department of Family Social Science, University of Minnesota, 290 McNeal Hall, St. Paul, MN 55108. E-mail: [email protected].

Family Systems Medicine 24(3):p 251-263, Fall 2006.

Citizen health care is a way to engage patients, families, and communities as coproducers of health and health care. It goes beyond the activated patient to the activated community, with professionals acquiring community organizing skills for working with individuals and families who see themselves as citizens of health care—builders of health in the clinic and community—rather than merely as consumers of medical services. Over the past 7 years, the authors and their colleagues have developed and field-tested a structured process for implementing this model into everyday practice settings. In this article, we describe the origins of the model, its core tenets and practices, and examples of its implementation in community settings. We discuss how citizen health care differs from other models of collaborative and community-based work, and we outline research and training directions.