Person-Centred Care: Empowering Individuals in Health and Social Services

Explore how person-centred care prioritises the unique needs and choices of individuals in health and social care settings.

Core Principles of Person-Centred Care

Understanding the key principles that underpin person-centred care and planning.

1. Empowering Self-Planning

Encouraging individuals to leverage their strengths and capabilities in planning their care, e.g., choosing mobility aids over wheelchairs for short distances.

2. Ownership of Care Plans

Creating care plans in the first person to reflect the individual's ownership, e.g., 'I prefer a walking frame for indoor mobility'.

3. Autonomy in Decision-Making

Supporting individuals to make informed choices about their care, e.g., trialling a walking frame to assess suitability.

4. Aiming for a Better Life

Ensuring care plans are tailored to enhance the individual's quality of life, e.g., sourcing the best-suited walking frame.

Implementing Person-Centred Care in Health Organisations

Adopting a compassionate, dignified, and respectful approach to involve people in their own care.

Shared Decision-Making

Positioning individuals as equal partners in their healthcare journey, enabling collaborative choices in their treatment and care.

Community Involvement in Service Design

Including community voices in decisions about the design and delivery of health services to ensure they meet real needs.

Promoting Dignity in Care

Valuing and respecting individual preferences, choices, and decisions to uphold dignity in care.

Respecting Individual Preferences

Avoiding assumptions and working with empathy and person-centred values to honour each person's unique preferences and needs.

Conclusion

Person-centred care represents a commitment to empowering individuals, respecting their choices, and enhancing their quality of life within health and social care environments.