{"id":25207,"date":"2018-02-23T09:56:09","date_gmt":"2018-02-23T09:56:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.highspeedtraining.co.uk\/hub\/?p=25207"},"modified":"2025-05-23T16:57:29","modified_gmt":"2025-05-23T15:57:29","slug":"what-is-person-centred-care","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.highspeedtraining.co.uk\/hub\/what-is-person-centred-care\/","title":{"rendered":"What is Person-Centred Care and Why is it Important?"},"content":{"rendered":"

The ever-increasing demand on healthcare often causes caregivers to lose sight of the person behind the condition they\u2019re treating. This is why person-centred care is so important. It helps carers refocus on a crucial aspect of care: fulfilling a patient\u2019s needs beyond their disability or ailment.<\/p>\n

The health and social care sector is increasingly adopting a person-centred care approach, and rightly so. Not only does it help patients receive better quality care, but it also improves healthcare settings as a whole.<\/p>\n

As a carer, you should learn about the benefits of providing person-centred care and how to apply it in practice. It\u2019ll help you fulfil your role to the best of your abilities and maximise your patients\u2019 quality of life.<\/p>\n

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What is Person-Centred Care?<\/h2>\n

Person-centred care is one of the 13 fundamental standards of care that the Care Quality Commission (the independent regulator of health and social care in England) requires healthcare providers to meet.<\/p>\n

Delivering person-centred care involves caring for patients beyond their condition and tailoring your service to suit their individual wants and needs. It\u2019s about respecting that they have their own views on what\u2019s best for them, and have their own values and priorities in life.<\/p>\n

To do this, you need to get to know patients as a person and actively involve them in care-related decisions. No one appreciates having decisions made for them without their input. It makes them feel like an object or task, rather than a human being with thoughts and feelings.<\/p>\n

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As its name suggests, person-centred care puts the person at the heart of their care. You adapt your service to their expectations and preferences, not the other way around. Doing so enables patients to retain their dignity and autonomy during an already challenging time.<\/p>\n

Rather than leaving them feeling hindered by their ailment or disability, or debilitated during their time as an inpatient, you help them live a fulfilling life.<\/p>\n

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Need Person-Centred Care Training?<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Our Person-Centred Care Training<\/a> teaches health and social care workers how to effectively deliver person-centred care. It explains why tailoring your care to a person\u2019s individual wants and needs is important, and how it benefits your healthcare setting as a whole.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Example of Person-Centred Care<\/h3>\n

Malcolm is a 27 year old inpatient who was recently in a car accident. He had to undergo surgery for both his arms that suffered severe injuries during the crash. He needs to remain in hospital for two more weeks before discharge, which means he will rely on others for a significant amount of his daily care.<\/p>\n

Malcolm and his nurse discuss options for fulfilling wants and needs, such as bathing and passing the time. Malcolm would rather not spend two weeks watching TV in bed. He says that he enjoys reading and spending time with his girlfriend, who visits every evening.<\/p>\n

After this discussion, they reach a care plan together. For bathing, the hospital normally helps patients shower in the morning. However, they agree to let his girlfriend assist him in the evening with his personal hygiene routine. Malcolm\u2019s girlfriend also lends him her E-reader, which has audio books on it. This is a suitable alternative to books, given his physical condition. The nurse agrees to help him set it up and put on headphones when he would like to listen to it.<\/p>\n

The nurse adopted an effective approach to person-centred care in this example. She talked through options with Malcolm and sought his input, allowed flexibility to accommodate his wants and needs, and agreed to help meet these needs in the hospital on a daily basis. As a result, Malcolm’s time in care will feel much less strenuous \u2013 he’ll feel cared for, both physically and emotionally.<\/p>\n

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Principles of Person-Centred Care<\/h2>\n

The Health Foundation sets out four<\/strong> principles of person-centred care, which you should keep in mind\u00a0whenever you support and care for patients.<\/p>\n

The four principles of person-centred care are:<\/em><\/h4>\n
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1. Treat people with dignity, compassion, and respect.<\/h3>\n

Patients often lose their independence when they enter care, which puts their dignity at risk. Person-centred care enables you to maintain that dignity by respecting their wishes and treating them with compassion and empathy.<\/p>\n

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To fulfil this principle, you must always keep in mind that patients have their own thoughts, feelings, opinions, beliefs, and values, and these don\u2019t suddenly become invalidated by their care needs. Respecting their personal qualities helps the patient feel validated and cared for much more wholly: both physically and emotionally.<\/p>\n

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2. Provide coordinated care, support, and treatment.<\/h3>\n

To deliver consistent person-centred care, you have to coordinate with other health and social care workers and services. Otherwise, when patients move between services or carers, you have to rebuild an understanding of their personal wants and needs. In the meantime, the patient would not receive the level of care they need.<\/p>\n

Record patients\u2019 personal needs in their care plan and share it with other caregivers and services where necessary. Furthermore, all carers should communicate with one another to build a shared understanding of how to deliver person-centred care to their patients.\u00a0Remember to keep confidentiality<\/a> in mind at all times.<\/p>\n

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3. Offer personalised care, support, and treatment.<\/h3>\n

This principle is the heart of person-centred care. It requires you to understand that what works for one service user may not be suitable for another. A standardised approach can affect their ability to recover or manage their condition properly, and \u2013 depending on their personal circumstances and values \u2013 may damage their quality of life.<\/p>\n

Personalising your service to each patient allows them to retain some of their independence and fulfil their personal wants and needs.<\/p>\n

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4. Enable service users to recognise and develop their strengths and abilities, so they can live an independent and fulfilling life.<\/h3>\n

Providing person-centred care requires involving patients in decisions and helping them take actions to support themselves. Doing so helps them to develop their own capabilities and an understanding of how to look after themselves independently.<\/p>\n

Fulfilling this principle is mutually beneficial. The patient will feel in greater control of their life and less reliant on healthcare services. In turn, you\u2019ll have more time to look after patients with more significant dependencies.<\/p>\n

Keep in mind that this is a fine balance. Trying to force patients to do more on their own can make them feel like you don\u2019t want to help, while too much involvement makes them feel like they have no say. All it takes to avoid this is maintaining an ongoing dialogue with the patient and their representatives.<\/p>\n

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Want to learn more about your specific safeguarding responsibilities? Our Advanced Safeguarding Adults<\/a> training course is suitable for workers in any industry that provides care or a service to adults in need.<\/em><\/p>\n

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Why is Person-Centred Care Important?<\/h2>\n

First and foremost, person-centred care helps patients receive more appropriate care and feel more wholly cared for as a human being. However, it also brings so many other benefits to patients and healthcare centres overall.<\/p>\n

Person-centred care is important for patients because:<\/h3>\n