Person-centred care means valuing each older person as an individual and respecting their identity, culture, abilities, beliefs, and life experiences. It’s about working with them, not just for them, to ensure their care reflects their needs and preferences. This approach builds stronger relationships, makes your work more rewarding, and improves care outcomes.
What I can do
Your interactions shape an older person’s care experience. Always engage respectfully by:
- Introducing yourself and wearing a name tag
- Addressing older people by their preferred name and avoiding generic names like ‘love’, and ‘dear’
- Speaking at the older person’s eye level, whenever possible, to foster a sense of connection.
Ask questions that allow older people to be heard, understood, and involved in their care. Consider:
- Asking ‘What should I know about you to provide the best care?’
- Exploring with them how they would like their cultural, religious, or personal preferences to guide care
- Using interpreters when language barriers exist to get a full and clear understanding of the person.
Help older people feel a sense of identity and belonging by:
- Getting to know them. Lean about their life, interests, and past experiences to make conversations more meaningful
- Supporting personal choice. Respect their daily routines and help them personalise their space with items that reflect who they are.
- Providing emotional support. Offer reassurance, companionship, and emotional support beyond just physical care.
What I can learn
The palliAGED Practice Tips give helpful guidance on supporting older people with anxiety. There is a version for nurses as well as one for careworkers.
Complete the short palliAGED eLearning module on Person-Centred Care.
Enrol in the free Equip Aged Care Learning Modules which include a 10-minute introductory topic titled Person-Centred Care.
What I can give
If an older person wishes to learn more about person-centred care, these resources from the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission may help:
What I can suggest
Services can build a culture of person-centred care through:
- Ongoing training in communication and cultural awareness
- Supporting staff to avoid task-focused, rushed interactions to enable more meaningful engagement with older people
- Recognising and rewarding staff who demonstrate exceptional person-centred care.
Feedback systems also support person-centred care. Services can:
- Implement regular surveys or feedback forums with older people and their families and carers
- Establish an anonymous reporting system for concerns about care
- Act on feedback to make visible improvements and demonstrate accountability.
Embedding person-centred policies and systems means:
- Integrating person-centred care principles into organisational policies and procedures
- Ensuring documentation and reporting tasks support, rather than hinder, time spent with older people in providing care
- Promoting a culture where person-centred care is a shared responsibility across all levels of staff.
Page created 24 February 2025