A consumer health care organization founded in 1978 as a nonprofit corporation. Its philosophy is based on consumer access to health and medical information, involvement of family and friends, and encouraging consumers to become active participants in improving, maintaining, and restoring their health. Planetree was created to humanize, personalize and de-mystify the health care system for patients and their families. Planetree assists health care providers in identifying and overcoming obstacles in delivering humanistic care. Some of the areas addressed by the organization are nursing, family involvement, patient education, and architectural design. Planetree has developed five Model Hospital sites in the United States, and about 20 affiliates in the United States and Europe as examples of this approach to patient-centered care. In addition it has implemented a nationwide Hospital Alliance with 18 members (1994) and has developed Health Resource Centers to give lay people easy access to health and medical information.