What is Provider Directed Care?
- The resident is expected to follow the caregiver’s schedule.
- The resident eats at specific times, engages in activities at specific times, and wakes and retires at planned times.
- Meals are based on a menu, not necessarily the preferences of the resident.
What is Person-Centered Care?
- Residents are given choices based on their preferences.
- Staff allow the resident to make independent choices.
- Schedules are adapted to meet the preferences of the resident.
Benefits of Person-Centered Care
- It allows the resident to maintain routines they had in their home, and staff get to know the routines and how best to care for them.
- Family can provide insight into how the resident spends his/her day.
What are the basic needs of the residents? The obvious ones are food, drink, basic care, bathing, dressing, and receiving medications. But just as important is that the staff should know how the resident communicates. Caregivers should ask the family what words, gestures, sounds, and body movements the resident uses to communicate. How do they feel needed and useful? What are the best ways to display empathy and compassion?
Care Planning is Invaluable
Care plans need to include:
- All of the resident’s preferences
- All staff should have knowledge of those preferences
- Most importantly, staff must be aware of the behaviors associated with “unmet needs.”
Thomas Kitwood is considered by many to be the father of person-centered care. The method was considered revolutionary because it took the viewpoint of the person with dementia. Person-centered dementia care means we try to look at each situation through the eyes of the person we care for.
At Simplify Senior Living, we believe in and practice person-centered care daily, believing that it is vital for the well-being of both the cared for and the caregiver.
