Person-centred care, or consumer-centred care, has emerged as the new buzzword in aged and home care. It is the key to the new Aged Care Quality Standards by the Royal Commission, which came into effect on July 1st 2019.
But what does it mean, and how do providers achieve person-centred aged care?
Person-centred care, defined
The Royal Commission explains consumer-centred care as follows:
“care and services that are designed around an individual’s needs, preferences and background.”
What this means in practice is high quality aged care that goes beyond a clients’ physical needs. It recognises that each individual has a unique personality, with mental, social, spiritual and emotional needs beyond their physical condition.
It’s all about choice
By definition, we need to recognise that every person is different. You cannot address social needs by simply forcing all residents to sit in a common room and participate in the same activity.
Instead, offering choice is key. Providing aged care clients with a range of options, giving them choice in what care they want to receive and what activities they would like to participate in. Clients are at the core of care services, so do it with them and not to them.
In other words: treat clients as partners — not as recipients.
Innovation to put the person at the centre
All of this may seem common sense, but in an industry that faces a shrinking workforce and increased pressure on budgets, implementing this new framework can be challenging.
Innovating services and care delivery is essential to achieve the new standards, and there are endless opportunities to do so.
An example is providing clients with a digital window into the organisation, providing choice and transparency. Allow clients to pick and choose the social activities they want to be part of, access information from the comfort of home, share their thoughts and feedback on the care services, and communicate directly with the organisation.
Some care providers and tech startups have been at the forefront of leading these innovative changes in aged care. Check out a great example of an innovative partnership between RangeCare and Conpago, who launched the Community Connection Project.
By digitally empowering clients, organisations can help them access social care on their own terms. This truly puts the person at the centre of care.
