The Benefits of a Person-Centered Approach to Care
A person-centered approach to senior care puts the seniors’ needs and wants first, focusing on social wellness, physical comfort, and mental well-being.
As such, person-centered care is holistic; it provides physical care but also recognizes each person’s creative, intellectual, and social needs.
A person-centered care approach follows these principles:
- Seniors know what’s best for them
- All decisions about the senior’s health should include the senior and their family
- Nothing less than respectful and nurturing care that empowers the senior should be provided
- All care plans should center on the senior’s mental and physical well-being
The benefits of person-centered care
Senior living communities that focus on providing care from this perspective report an increase in well-being among seniors and their caregivers:
- More stimulating living conditions
Seniors have more control over their environment, including their daily schedules and the activities they choose to participate in. Person-centered care facilities offer residents daily activities to keep them engaged. Examples include gardening, painting, and other creative pastimes.
- A sense of belonging
A person-centered approach focuses less on staff getting their to-do lists checked off for the day and more on resident interaction. Strategies that foster connections between community residents and their caregivers help support healthy aging. As studies have abundantly shown, a greater sense of belonging is associated with better health, longevity, and improved psychological well-being.
- Better health outcomes
Seniors in person-centered environments have fewer health problems and rely on fewer healthcare resources. Research from The AMA Journal of Ethics Research has shown that stimulating experiences ward off loneliness and greatly improve mental health. People living in such environments also experience shorter recovery times from illnesses.
How Life Plan Communities approach person-centered care
While each community approaches person-centered care differently, one overarching goal is to ensure that residents feel valued. There are many ways that Life Plan Communities do this. Here are three examples:
- Family services
If you have a loved one in a senior community, you know them better than anyone else. Staff at facilities that follow the person-centered care model recognize this and work with families so that the needs of their loved ones are always met.
Together, the staff and the senior stay in contact with family members, updating them on care plan changes and ensuring the senior and their family remain connected. These communities often have family rooms for congregating and family events.
- Customized care plans
People who seek a person-centered approach for themselves or their loved ones do so because they want to be seen and treated with dignity. In that sense, the need for living assistance shouldn’t diminish one’s autonomy.
With person-centered care, medical and non-medical staff discuss the senior’s needs with the person and together develop a care plan that fits their life plan and current situation.
- Policy adjustments
The person-centered care approach doesn’t play well with rigidity. Not every rule needs to be set in stone, and sometimes communities must make adjustments to ensure the health and well-being of their members.
For example, some communities’ policies don’t allow visitors after 8:00 p.m. However, exceptions might be made if a resident’s family member is in town for one evening and can’t make it before 9:00 p.m. In short, reasonable exceptions can be made with a person-centered approach.
When you or your loved ones choose a person-centered senior living community, what follows is increased satisfaction, well-being, and an empowering third act. Discover the Springpoint difference by learning more about each of our senior care and Life Plan Communities.
