Introduction: For the last forty years, patients have been encouraged to take part in their care and to participate in improving the quality and safety of care. This phenomenon requires reflection on the conditions of emergence of this new role and its public health implications, particularly in the field of patient safety.
Methods: A narrative review of the international literature was conducted by searching Medline, Cairn and Persée databases.
Results: The database query identified 2,206 documents, 106 of which were included in the analysis. The emergence of the patient-actor is linked to sanitary crises and promoted by patient associations in the field of patient safety such as le Lien. This movement induces a transformation of the patient's role beyond the theme of patient safety: it revolutionizes the patient's contribution to the health system.
Conclusion: This narrative review of the literature highlights the way in which health crises have encouraged the emergence of a new actor: the patient-actor, accompanied by new semantics concerning the power of the patient. The patient occupies a specific place in the field of safety of care. In collaboration with healthcare professionals, the patient must constitute a resource to improve patient safety. The various contributions of patients are described and an analysis of the acceptability of patient participation is proposed.