Person-centred care means that the focus is placed on the individual receiving the care.
This approach acknowledges that each person is unique, with their own set of needs and preferences. It moves away from a one-size-fits-all approach. Instead, it offers care tailored to each person's circumstances. This ensures individuals stay at the centre of all care decisions and actions.
What is person-centred care?
Person-centred care involves treating individuals as active participants in the planning and delivery of their care. Working in a person-centred way means considering the emotional, social, and practical aspects of a person's life, not just their medical or physical needs.
It's a holistic approach. It allows individuals to manage their health and wellbeing with dignity. This method emphasises their strengths and abilities instead of just focusing on their condition.
Different regulatory bodies in the UK govern person-centred care, depending on the location of the care. For example, in England, the Care Quality Commission (CQC) outlines the concept of person-centred care within Regulation 9 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014, stating:
Providers must consider the individual's capacity to consent and ensure that they, or someone legally representing them, actively participate in planning, managing, and evaluating their care and treatment.
Although the CQC can't take legal action for breaking this rule, it can take steps that often impact a care provider's rating with the CQC.
Why is person-centred care important?
Person-centred care is important because it ultimately leads to better health outcomes, elevated patient satisfaction, and more efficient use of healthcare resources. Individuals are more likely to follow to treatment plans, engage in healthy behaviours, and feel empowered to manage their condition.
This approach improves the quality of care for those receiving care, fostering a sense of dignity and compassion in the care process.
Care Certificate Standard 5 highlights the importance of adopting a person-centred approach as a key element in delivering high-quality healthcare. Care workers must consider each individual's unique needs, preferences, and values in their care approach through person-centred practices.
Examples of person-centred care
Examples of person-centred care in action include:
- Creating personalised care plans that reflect the individual's preferences.
- Involving them in decision-making processes.
- Providing coordinated care support that addresses their holistic needs.
Person-centred care values
Person-centred values in care are key principles that guide how a service is provided.
Individuals feel valued, understood and empowered in a person-centred care environment.
The key person-centred values include:
- Individuality: Recognising each person's unique combination of identity, beliefs, needs, and preferences is crucial.
- Choice: Providing individuals with the power to make decisions about their care.
- Independence: It is key to assist individuals in achieving as much independence as possible. This means supporting them to do what they can on their own rather than leaving them to manage themselves.
- Dignity: Everyone deserves care that preserves their dignity, considering their ethical and moral beliefs without making assumptions about their preferences. This is particularly important in sensitive areas of personal care.
- Respect: Acknowledging and valuing each person's opinions and feelings as valid, even in the face of disagreement, is fundamental to showing respect.
- Rights: The protection of every person’s rights, as defined in The Human Rights Act 1998, including the right to life, safety from harm, liberty, security, and equality, should be a key part of care practices.
- Privacy: Ensuring individuals' right to privacy, mainly concerning personal hygiene and intimate procedures, is essential. Carers should carefully manage access to personal information, requiring consent and consideration on a need-to-know basis.
- Partnership: Care should be a collaborative process involving individuals and their families as partners in decision-making. This encourages shared decisions that recognise and develop the individual's preferences and needs.
The person-centred care framework
The person-centred care framework outlines the principles and practices that underpin effective person-centred care. It emphasises the importance of understanding the individual, their priorities, and their goals.
The framework guides healthcare professionals to work in a care-centred way. It ensures that care plans are flexible, responsive, and designed to meet each person's unique needs. This supports their health and well-being over the long term.
Person-centred care is about treating people with respect, acknowledging their value as individuals, and recognising their capacity to make choices about their care.
By using these values in healthcare, we make sure care meets physical needs and helps with emotional and social well-being. This greatly improves the overall quality of life for service users.
4 Principles of person-centred care
The Health Foundation has developed four principles of person-centred care.
These principles are key rules for providing care services that meets each patient's unique needs and wants. They are:
- Respecting and valuing individuality: This principle emphasises recognising and honouring each person's unique qualities, preferences, and life experiences.
- Empowering choice: Central to person-centred care, is empowering individuals to make informed choices about their care and treatment.
- Ensuring participation in care planning: This involves individuals actively participating in developing and reviewing their care plans.
- Promoting independence: The key is to enhance individuals' ability to manage their care and maintain their independence.
Person-centred care training
Adapting person-centred care doesn’t just require intention. It requires knowledge, understanding and the correct tools. This is why we have developed a comprehensive eLearning course on the fundamentals of person-centred care.
Our course delves into the core values of effective person-centred care, emphasising respect for individuality and the importance of treating people with dignity. It teaches learners to work with a focus on person-centred care. It also gives them practical strategies to customise care for each person's unique needs and preferences.
As an award-winning training provider, our aim is to work with health care professionals to create a healthcare system that listens, responds, and adapts to every individual's unique needs. Join us in working towards a future where person-centred care is the standard.
Explore our Person-Centred Care Course
This Person-Centred Care training course looks at the values underpinning social care work that promote wellbeing and forms part of the online care certificate.
