The recent decades have brought a change of view on the patient as unity of spirit and body in the context of the environment, bringing fundamentals of multi-causal view on the relationship between health and illness into medicine. The approach to the patient has changed from purely bio-medicine to bio-psycho-social, the relationship physician-patient from paternalistic to partner approach. The approach has a lot of names: holistic, complex, psycho-somatic, bio-psycho-social, system, client (patient) oriented, qualitative, ... The names have different histories of origin, but largely the same contents. It consists, on the side of care providers, in focus on the patient’s uniqueness, individuality, on his rights and unrepeatability of the relevant situation and its specific broader context; on the side of the patient (client), in active approach to treatment and assumption of co-responsibility for the choice of the care and its results. A significant part of this direction is the origin of patient organizations and the continuously growing influence of their activities.

I deal with this topic on several frontlines. First, within my volunteer work in the area of involuntary childlessness where I try to promote this approach in reproduction medicine, direct contact with patients and in written materials intended for them (books and the publication Reproduction Health). I represent the Maternity Hope Foundation (Nadace Mateřská naděje) in the following international patient organizations: International Consumer Support for Infertility, Fertility Europe, International Alliance of Patients´ Organizations, European Patients´ Forum. The organization stated last but one – IAPO – has created the document called Declaration on Patient-Centered Healthcare.

At the Faculty of Health and Social Studies of the University of South Bohemia I teach the discipline called Fundamentals of complex psycho-somatic approach in medicine. A name much more closer to my conception is Narrative- based medicine, which is also the name of the prepared textbook intended particularly to students of medical and health-care oriented faculties and high schools and health care workers. The book will be based on patient stories.
The topic is also the subject of my research.