Person centred practice is when the individual is at the centre of their care.
It means that the individual is involved in all the decisions made. It is vital to let them exercise their rights. They should have the ability to make their own choices and be given dignity and respect. We work in partnership with them. We work with them one to one and offer options to them, for them to decide. We work with them in a small room to respect their privacy.
Encouraging autonomy is a must. They are helped to help themselves. eg. they phone the job centre, whilst we hold their hand. Careplans written for individuals are the embodiment of person centred care. Written in the care plans are the person’s medical history, any mental health issues, any children perhaps, what the person’s likes and dislikes are and any dietary requirements. It is basically all about the individual.
An example of this is, when working with the elderly, the elderly person likes jam sandwiches every evening. It is their right to chose this. Something else written in the care plan might be for example that the client likes to have the door closed when personal care is carried out. This is their right and we have to honour this.
The individual is in the middle and it is all about their various values. It is about their needs and wants. We work in partnership with the individual. They are always involved in the decision making process.
