Healthcare in a land called PeoplePower: nothing about me without me.

This viewpoint presents a summary of recommendations from the 1998 Salzburg Seminar entitled “Through the Patient’s Eyes.” The purpose of this seminar series is to offer a neutral forum for discussing beliefs on a variety of topics. The 5-day seminar was attended by 64 individuals from 29 different countries with a mission to create a health care system for a mythical republic called PeoplePower. The premise builds on a principle of “nothing about me without me,” as teams of health professionals, patient advocates, artists, reporters, and social scientists established a conceptual model. The authors share the participants’ visions of an ideal clinician-patient relationship and the role hospitals, national and local governmental agencies, and communities play in supporting such a model. Although they conclude that their health care system remains detached from financial, historical, and societal restraints, the principles serve as reminders that health programs must draw closer together patients and those who care for them.