Person-Centred Care

Perhaps more than any other, the medical professions can be full of jargon that may be difficult to understand. For any fans of Countdown out there, they often discuss strange words and phrases that seem to be ‘doctors only’ terms!

Well, Person Centred Care is another one but fear not, we’re here to break it down for you!

The crossover between care and medicine is full of these sorts of terms and they’re ever increasingly used too. For example, ‘Assisted Living’ hasn’t been widely used until relatively recently and it can be argued the confusion of what is dementia and what is Alzheimer’s is still being explored and isn’t generally understood.

For many of us, Person Centred Care comes under that same umbrella. So what is it?

Officially, it is when a person actively partakes in their own health care in collaboration with medical or health professionals. Where a person is given responsibility to make plans, give suggestions and contribute to their own health care plan.

Unofficially and with regards to older people, it has a more abstract meaning than that. It means self empowerment.

The loss of inhibitions is something we will all face one day in our lives and it can be a strong mental strain on people. For most, a lifetime of self sufficiency means that struggling to look after ourselves can be a drain, a worry and an outright anxiety. Person centred care aims to bring that back to a person as much as possible. Instead of turning up, being given a checkup and prescribed a new set of tablets, it aims at being more person lead and more of a two way street. This is why it’s so popular in care homes such as Signature’s.

It’s founded on the idea that health care should be based on an individual’s personal needs and requirements rather than on a one-size-fits-all approach to healthcare. Meaning that whatever a person’s needs, that is what they should receive. It sounds like a difficult thing to do and all too often we read stories in newspapers of neglection but the premise is what care homes built upon in general.

Based on a holistic approach to healthcare, person centred focusses much more on what a person CAN do while treating what they can’t. This means it works on preventive measures such as diet and exercise as well as treatment. Something else that good care homes understand and work on.

Without really knowing it, we are all subject to person centred care later in life for much of our retired years. UK Doctors and healthcare workers (in addition to the jargon!) generally work on this principle with elderly patients and residents and that is encouraging for us all.

At Signature, person centred care is at the heart of what we do.  Each resident is assessed and a bespoke care plan is agreed based on their individual needs, wishes and requirements.  This helps reassure our residents and their families that they are receiving the very best care for their situation.