Traditional efforts in healthcare to evaluate patient satisfaction with care, an outcome expected from effective person-centred practices, rely heavily on survey methodology. At West Park Healthcare Centre, a rehabilitation and complex continuing care facility in Ontario, Canada, data from patient satisfaction surveys were proving insufficient on their own to inform and ultimately motivate those in a position to bring about improvement in person-centred practices. Additional and more effective strategies were therefore sought as part of a larger practice development initiative to evaluate our progress in accomplishing person-centred outcomes for our patients and to guide the planning of continuous improvement strategies.

Photovoice was selected and evaluated through qualitative within-site, multiple case study design as a method to reveal the care experiences of patients living in complex continuing care and facilitate change based on expressed needs and concerns. The findings suggest Photovoice improves understanding of:

• The factors that influence patient satisfaction with care
• The practice changes required to enhance the person-centeredness of that care

However, Photovoice did not result in consistent shifts in care practices based on the improved understanding. Going forward, these findings suggest more work is needed to help the organisation move beyond an understanding of what matters to patients to acting on that knowing.