"Person centred care means seeing the person with dementia as a person first and foremost. It is easy to view people with dementia as a collection of symptoms, and think that one person with dementia is much like the next or forget that each person with dementia is an individual with unique qualities. Person centred care means getting to know the person and then thinking how their condition is affecting them." (Alzheimer’s Society 2001).
A definition of person-centred care could be:
- The whole person is the focus, not their lack of mental capacity, or their physical disease.
- Their remaining abilities, emotions and understanding are brought into focus not their losses.
- The person is considered within a context, ie family, community etc. and not just as a person with a disease.
- They are not defined by their disease.
- The care is offered with the person’s preferences in mind not the convenience of the provider.
Benefits for the cared-for-person
- Greater feeling of self-esteem.
- Decreased feeling of agitation and associated behaviours of distress.
- Less depression.
- Improved sleep patterns.
- More socially based interactions with carers and others.
Benefits for the carer
- More open communication opportunities, becomes more of a two-way process.
- Fewer distressed behaviours to handle.
- Tasks may become easier to undertake to agreed outcomes.
- Overall greater “job satisfaction” for offering an exceptional service.
