Person-Centered Care
Person-centered care is characterized by treating patients as individuals and partners in their own care. It is personalized, coordinated, and designed to empower the individual receiving care. To practice person-centered care, you need to recognize people's capabilities to manage their own health instead of just viewing them as passive recipients of care. Care should be guided by the patient's goals, preferences, and values. You cannot provide patient-centered care if you have not built a relationship based on trust with the individual you are working with.
Providing Person-Centered Care
At the heart of providing person-centered care is the requirement to learn how the individual wants to live their life. To do this, you should gather information on what is important to and important for that individual. When having conversations to determine these factors, try to let the individual maintain control as much as possible.
-
Information that is important to someone tells you what they need to feel satisfied,
content, comforted, fulfilled, and happy. This includes:
- Relationships/people to be with
- Valued roles
- Rituals/routines (both cultural and personal)
- Pace of life
- Things to do and places to go
- Things to have
-
Information that is important for somebody is what you feel is necessary to help that
person. This includes:
- Being a contributing member of their community (abilities, roles, etc.)
- Health issues (both physical and mental health)
- Illness prevention
- Treatment of medical conditions
- Promotion of wellness (diet, exercise, sleep, etc.)
- Safety issues
Person-centered care finds a balance between the important to and important for information. This will provide the individual with the care they need while also living a life they desire. It is important to continue building and maintaining a positive working relationship and plan care around their capabilities and desires whenever possible. The National Library of Medicine provides additional tips for providing person-centered care. These include:
-
Relationship-building skills
- Appreciate the unique person you are working with
- Be genuinely caring, kind, and positive
- Always do what you say you will do
- Be knowledgeable and confident
- Take time to socialize
- Learn about them as a person
- Match what you say and do to their knowledge/culture/lifestyle
- Share about yourself
- Actively listen
-
Care planning skills
- Identify their goals (what they wish to get out of home healthcare)
- Ask what they believe would help achieve their goals
- Include their preferences in the care plan
- Ask how things are going each visit
Remember, successfully practicing person-centered care is dependent on developing and maintaining a positive working relationship with the individual you are caring for!
Personal Preference Inventories
The Preferences for Everyday Living Inventory (PELI) tool can assist you in learning about what is most important to the person you are working with. There are a variety of PELI questionnaires to choose from, and for each, you can decide if you need to ask the full set of questions or choose fewer, more relevant questions. They contain questions to ask about preferences in five areas: social contact, personal development, leisure, living environments, and daily routine.
To make best use of these tools, give the individual plenty of time to think and respond. Offer prompts but do NOT "put words in their mouth," and stop the interview if they become fatigued or refuse to answer any more questions. The PELI is designed to be completed over multiple sittings, if necessary.