Person-Centred Care: What is it and Why is it Important?
In recent years, the concept of person-centred care has gained significant popularity in the healthcare sector. This approach to care delivery represents a fundamental shift from traditional, paternalistic models of providing care towards a more collaborative and individualised approach. However, a lot of people still lack knowledge of what person-centred care is and how it enables individuals to live an independent and fulfilling life at care homes in Bideford.
Defining Person-Centred Care
Person-centred care is an approach that places the individual at the heart of decision-making and care delivery. It recognises that each person has unique needs and preferences that should be taken into account when planning and providing care. This approach moves away from viewing residents as passive recipients of care and instead sees them as active participants in their health journey.
At its core, person-centred care puts people first and treats them with dignity, compassion, and respect. It involves healthcare providers working in partnership with the care home team and individuals to develop care plans that reflect their personal goals and values. It also emphasises the importance of considering not just a person's medical needs, but also their emotional and social needs.
Key Principles of Person-Centred Care
Many key principles define the person-centred care approach and achieving health and well-being outcomes, including:
Respect for individual values and preferences: This involves recognising and honouring a person's unique perspective, experiences, and choices regarding their health and well-being.
Coordination and integration of care: Person-centred care emphasises the importance of seamless, coordinated care across different healthcare services and providers.
Providing information and education: Providing clear, accessible information to help individuals make informed decisions about their care is crucial, as well as ensuring all health professionals receive awareness training.
Emotional support: If you are looking to offer person-centred care to the highest degree, providing emotional support is essential alongside residential, nursing, dementia, respite or palliative care services.
Involvement of family and friends: Recognising the role of family and friends in a person's care and involving them as much as possible is important when offering compassionate care.
Continuity and transition: Person-centred care allows individuals to easily transition through different care types as their needs develop, keeping them feeling secure in a familiar setting.
Why Is Person-Centred Care Important?
Person-centred approaches to care are essential to implement in care homes when supporting people to ensure the highest quality of care can be given. To properly understand its importance, individuals must first understand the benefits it can bring to residents, their loved ones and any other third-party individuals such as the local authorities or healthcare professionals.
Improved Health Outcomes
Research has consistently shown that when individuals are actively involved in their care, overall health outcomes improve. Person-centred care helps people to better understand their health conditions and treatment options, leading to more informed decisions about their care. This increased engagement can lead to better adherence to treatment plans and improved management of chronic conditions.
Enhanced Resident Experience
Person-centred care significantly improves the resident experience. When people feel listened to, respected, and involved in their care, they are more likely to report higher levels of satisfaction with their healthcare experiences. This positive experience can lead to increased trust in care home teams and the healthcare system as a whole, making them feel more at home in the facility they reside in.
Increased Efficiency
By focusing on what matters most to individuals and the points where intervention is needed, person-centred care can help to ensure that healthcare resources are used more efficiently. It will also provide more clarity to the team who know how much treatment they should offer before involving external teams.
Promotion of Independence
Person-centred care empowers residents to take an active role in improving their own health by continuing to do the things they love whilst the care home teams support them with their personal and medical needs. By providing people with the knowledge, skills, and confidence they need, this approach can help individuals to live more independent and fulfilling lives, no matter what care type they require.
Peace of Mind for Loved Ones
Providing tailored care to residents that focuses on not only their medical needs but also their personal requirements and preferences can provide peace of mind to their family members and friends that they have made the right care home decision.
Implementing Person-Centred Care
Care homes will use a number of techniques to deliver person-centred care, each helping to ensure a seamless care journey and continue to improve their services.
Personalised Care Plans
Care providers work with individuals and their loved ones to develop personalised care plans that align with their unique needs and preferences. These care plans are flexible and can be adapted over time, based on changes in the individual’s health or personal circumstances. Care home teams can refer to this when providing a person-centred approach and use this to ensure the level of care is consistent no matter who is working.
Shared Decision-Making
By introducing shared decision-making, the team can encourage individuals to express their own opinions on how they want their care to be carried out. This collaborative approach empowers people to be more involved in their treatment and daily activities, which can lead to them feeling more confident overall and putting trust in team members to support them so they can continue doing the things they love.
Our Person-Centred Care at Highwood Care Home
By placing individuals at the centre of their care, recognising their unique needs and preferences, and empowering them to be active participants in their health journey, we can improve overall health outcomes, enhance resident experiences, and create a more efficient care journey for residents.
At Highwood Care Home, we offer exceptional levels of Residential, Dementia, Nursing, Respite and Palliative Care. Prior to moving in, we hold meetings without prospective residents and their loved ones to create a tailored care plan that outlines their needs, medical history and requirements, values and preferences. Our residents are at the heart of everything we do, and we understand the importance of introducing person-centred care to ensure they can receive an improved quality of life.
Through our first-class facilities and amenities, residents have the opportunity to control their daily routines. Whether they want to participate in activities held through our varied well-being program or chill out in a cinema room or holistic therapy room, we have everything our residents may need to remain independent and enjoy a loving and warm environment.
If you have any further questions about how we implement person-centred care into our procedures or want to know more about our care services or facilities and amenities, please contact our friendly team or book a tour today!
