What Matters to You? Understanding and Applying the "What Matters to You" Approach for Patient-Centered Care Improving the quality of care and strengthening the partnership between healthcare professionals and patients are major priorities in the healthcare sector. In the face of systems that are sometimes perceived as dehumanizing, initiatives aimed at refocusing care on the individual needs and preferences of patients are emerging and gaining prominence. Among these, the international program “What Matters to You?” (WMTY) , translated into French as “Qu’est-ce qui est important pour vous?” (CIPV) , stands out for its simplicity and power. This approach, which invites healthcare professionals to ask their patients a fundamental question, has proven to be a key lever for transforming the caregiver-patient relationship, improving the quality of care, and even positively impacting the quality of working life for professionals. This article explores in depth the philosophy, benefits, implementation, and impact of this approach, which has become a true global movement. The Origins and Meaning of “What Matters to You” The “What Matters to You?” program emerged from a desire to refocus care on the patient by recognizing that each individual has unique priorities, preferences, and values that should guide their care. The core idea is simple: by directly asking the question, "What matters to you?", healthcare professionals create an essential space for dialogue with their patients. This seemingly innocuous question marks a significant departure from a more traditional and sometimes impersonal approach, where the emphasis is often placed on the objectively verifiable "real" illness, reflected in the question "What's the Matter?" . The slogan “What Matters to You” is thus a deliberate play on words that underscores this shift in perspective, placing the patient and their priorities at the heart of care. Launched in 2014, the WMTY movement quickly gained global traction, being adopted by healthcare professionals in over 50 countries and involving more than 2,000 teams. This adoption reflects a profound need to rethink the patient-caregiver relationship and foster a truly person-centered approach. Since 2014, an international “What Matters to You” day has been celebrated annually, and since 2025, this date has been set for June 3, highlighting the growing scope and impact of this movement. International networks have formed, allowing participants to share resources, tools, and experiences to facilitate the local implementation of this approach. In Europe, several national and regional organizations have committed to this initiative, such as PAQS in Belgium, FHV in Switzerland, and IEP in France, as well as regional structures supporting quality of care and patient safety like ORAQS 97.1 in Guadeloupe, Qualirel Santé in the Pays de la Loire region, and CAPPS in Brittany. France Assos Santé is also a major player in promoting this approach. In a post-COVID context where tensions are high in healthcare facilities, the WMTY program aims to reconnect professionals with their primary mission of “providing care.” The objective is to find a balance between what is meaningful for the patient, for the teams, and for the organization. It is about remembering what motivates professionals to get up every morning to see their patients and colleagues.
The Benefits of the "What's Important to You?" Approach for Patients Asking the question "What's important to you?" offers many direct and indirect benefits for patients. First, it encourages open communication between the healthcare provider and the patient. By inviting the patient to express their priorities, values, and preferences, the healthcare provider fosters an atmosphere of trust that promotes a more authentic and meaningful exchange. This in-depth communication allows the healthcare professional to gain a deeper understanding of each patient's specific needs . Beyond clinical symptoms, this question opens the door to aspects of the patient’s life that can significantly impact their well-being and how they experience care. By understanding what truly matters to the patient, healthcare professionals are better equipped to offer personalized treatment options, presenting the risks, benefits, and alternatives while taking the patient’s values into account. This approach fosters shared decision-making, where the patient is actively involved in choices concerning their health. Feeling heard and valued in their priorities helps strengthen the patient’s sense of control over their own care, which can positively impact their adherence to treatments and their experience of the illness. Furthermore, the WMTY approach can improve the quality of care provided by refocusing it on what is most relevant to the patient. For example, a patient might express the importance of maintaining their independence at home, which could guide care toward strategies that support this goal. Another might emphasize the importance of not feeling cold during a procedure—a simple but significant request for their comfort. Considering these elements, often overlooked in a purely biomedical approach, contributes to a more humane and satisfying care experience. Patients who feel their expectations have been met are more likely to have a higher level of trust in their caregivers and to recommend the facility.
The benefits of "What Matters to You?" extend beyond patients. This approach also has a significant positive impact on healthcare professionals and their quality of working life (QWL) . In the post-COVID era, when healthcare teams are under considerable strain, the WMTY program helps professionals reconnect with their core mission of "caring." By refocusing on patients' priorities, caregivers can rediscover a sense of purpose in their work and remember why they chose this career path.
Asking the question "What matters to you?" and acting on it can strengthen a sense of professional efficacy and job satisfaction. Healthcare professionals feel more valued when they have the opportunity to consider the human dimension of care and personalize their approach. This approach also fosters better communication within teams . Sharing what is important to the patient allows for more consistent and coordinated care. Furthermore, extending the discussion to the teams themselves allows institutions to identify what is essential for caregivers and adapt their organization accordingly, thereby improving well-being at work and promoting team retention . Valuing caregivers’ voices and strengthening teamwork are significant managerial benefits of this approach. The WMTY program is therefore much more than a patient-caregiver relationship tool; it proves to be a true management and leadership tool focused on QWL (Quality of Working Life) .
Incorporating the question "What is important to you?" into daily care practice is based on a simple approach, but one that requires genuine listening and a willingness to take action. The method is often summarized as "Ask, listen, do" what matters to the person. Another formulation highlights the "IPCV" : Consider what matters to the person, Ask by asking "What is important to you?", and Share as a team what is important to the person and see what can be done. To facilitate the integration of this approach, it is helpful to have a conversation guide offering open-ended questions that encourage the patient to express themselves. These questions can be divided into several categories: General questions about the patient’s priorities and values: "What is important to you today? What are your priorities right now? Is there anything that is particularly concerning you? What does a good day mean to you?" Questions about the experience of care and expectations: "How would you like us to care for you? What positive experiences have you had in the past with the healthcare system?" Are there any aspects of your care that you would like to change? How can we make your stay or treatment more comfortable?
Questions about personal preferences and well-being: "What activities make you feel good? How can we respect your habits and values? Do you have any special needs related to your culture, religion, or beliefs?" Questions about communication and patient involvement: "How would you prefer to receive information about your health? When would you like to be involved in decisions concerning you? Who would you like to be involved in your care (family, friends, caregivers)? Do you have any concerns or questions about your treatment or care?" Questions about goals and life plans: "What are your short-term and long-term goals?" Is there anything you would like to accomplish despite your health condition? What can we do to help you achieve these goals? It is important to note that the question can be adapted to the context and the patient. For example, for older adults, the questioning can be broadened to include their quality of life, autonomy, and medication safety, based on the 4 Ms (Matters, Medication, Mention, Mobility) concept developed by the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI). Some facilities inform patients in advance about this process using an information sheet to encourage them to spontaneously express what matters to them.
Experience shows that patients' requests are often quite feasible and do not always require significant resources to fulfill. Sometimes, simple interprofessional coordination is enough to meet a patient's expectations. It is crucial to document patients' responses and incorporate them into their care plan. Sharing this information within the team ensures comprehensive and consistent care.
The "What Matters to You" program can be compared to PREMS (Patient-Reported Experience Measures), which are measures of patient-reported experience. Although both approaches share the common goal of improving the patient experience by taking into account patient perceptions and expectations, they differ in their timeframe and method of implementation.
Common Points:
Differences:
Criteria What Matters to You (WMTY) PREMS Main Objective: To identify in real time what matters to the patient and adjust care accordingly. To evaluate the patient experience retrospectively to improve practices. Method: Open-ended questions asked during conversations with the patient. Standardized questionnaires administered after hospitalization or a consultation. Time of Use: During care. After care. Users: Caregivers, physicians, quality teams, management. Patients, quality teams, HAS (French National Authority for Health), health research. Format: Interactive and evolving dialogue. Quantifiable and comparable data across institutions.
In summary, WMTY is an everyday tool that immediately improves the caregiver-patient relationship by making care more humane, while fostering team collaboration with supervisors and supporting local initiatives.
Team training and awareness-raising are also essential. Directors can provide training on patient-centered communication, organize themed days, and encourage participation in working groups to adapt the program’s tools to the institution’s specific circumstances.
Monitoring and evaluating results are essential for measuring the program’s impact. Implementing indicators makes it possible to track changes in the quality of care, patient satisfaction and experience, as well as coordination between different departments. Feedback from teams and user representatives is also important, as is promoting best practices and sharing success stories. Finally, directors play a role in communication and advocacy by promoting the program to Regional Health Agencies (ARS), the High Authority for Health (HAS), hospital federations, and health networks. Integrating the program into HAS certification and evaluation processes and continuous quality improvement is also a key strategy.
Several outcome and impact indicators can be used to measure the effectiveness of the WMTY program:
Patient experience and satisfaction indicators: Patient satisfaction rate (via PREMS, eSatis), percentage of patients who felt their expectations were met, change in patient trust score toward healthcare professionals, patient recommendation rate (Net Promoter Score - NPS), number of positive comments on patient-centered care. Indicators of professional practice transformation: The rate of use of the question "What Matters to You?" in patient interviews, the number of professionals trained in this approach, modifications to care plans based on patient responses, the rate of caregiver engagement in personalized care initiatives, and the number of improvement projects resulting from patient feedback were all observed. Organizational and Quality of Care Indicators: Reduction in complaints and grievances related to a lack of patient listening, decrease in preventable adverse events, rate of facility participation in the program, improvement in HAS certification/assessment scores related to the consideration of patient experience, and modification of organizational processes to integrate the WMTY approach. Indicators of Caregiver Well-being and Organizational Culture: Rate of healthcare professionals’ participation in the approach, impact on team well-being (stress reduction, improved work environment), reduction in caregiver turnover and absenteeism, and improvement in professional satisfaction scores regarding the caregiver-patient relationship. Indicators of innovation and evolving practices: Number of innovative projects developed based on patient feedback; implementation of tools to facilitate the collection and use of patient responses; integration of the WMTY program into institutional strategies and quality improvement processes. Numerous initiatives demonstrate the adoption and impact of the "What Matters to You" program worldwide. The Vaud Hospital Federation (FHV) in Switzerland has implemented this approach since 2019, translating it as "What is important to you?", and organizes awareness-raising activities every year on June 6. In seven FHV institutions, this question is regularly asked of each patient, leading to active listening and the documentation of expectations in the patient’s medical record. The FHV’s experience shows that professionals’ initial fears about unrealistic demands are often unfounded, as expectations are generally very achievable. In France, QualiREL Santé in the Pays de la Loire region joined the WMTY movement in 2023 and is working on developing an implementation guide and a graphic charter to facilitate its local adoption. A regional working group, including patient partners, has been created with the aim of celebrating the implementation of the question in the region’s facilities on June 6, 2025. In Guadeloupe, ORAQS-97.1 introduced the question translated into Creole, "Ka ki fondal ba-w?", in eight healthcare and social care facilities in 2024. Culturally specific awareness tools were developed, and a seminar was organized to share experiences. The impact was significant in terms of caregiver and patient engagement and the shift toward more compassionate care. The activities coordinator at a nursing home even noted that this approach had “brought smiles back to the residents.” Experiments were also conducted, such as that by the Melioris Le Grand Feu Association in Niort, which tested the use of reflection boards in patients’ rooms to gather their expectations. This initiative demonstrated a positive impact on the caregiver-patient relationship and a better consideration of expectations. These examples illustrate the diversity of contexts and methods for implementing the “What Matters to You?” program. But all converge on a common goal: to put the patient back at the center of care by listening to and taking into account what is truly important to them.
The “What Matters to You” approach is a simple yet powerful tool for establishing and strengthening the partnership between patients and healthcare professionals. By asking this fundamental question, caregivers pave the way for more authentic communication, more personalized care, and a better understanding of each patient’s needs and values. Beyond the benefits for patients, this approach helps improve the quality of work life for professionals and strengthens the culture of “caring” within healthcare facilities. The growing commitment of numerous organizations worldwide attests to the relevance and impact of this movement, which continues to transform the patient-caregiver relationship toward greater humanity and personalization. And you, what is important to you?
