Person-Centred Care

Person-centred care is a holistic approach to healthcare that is grounded in a philosophy of personhood. It promotes self-determination, empowerment and a commitment to providing healthcare that is responsive to the needs and preferences of the individual.

Person-centred health professionals acknowledge that each person is unique, has equal rights and worth, and brings their own experiences about their health and illness (Kitwood 1997; Levett-Jones 2020).

Person-centred health professionals are ethical, open-minded, empathetic, respectful and self-aware, with a profound sense of moral agency (Levett-Jones et al. 2014).

Delivering care in a person-centred way means that:

• The care recipient is at the centre of the service they are receiving and are supported to make decisions about their life.
• The recipient’s life experience, age, gender, culture, heritage, language, beliefs and identity are all taken into account in the delivery of care.
• The services provided are flexible in order to meet the recipient’s preferences and priorities.
• Care is strengths-based; in other words, there is a greater focus placed on what the recipient can do rather than what they require help with, and the recipient is considered to be the expert of their own life The recipient’s support networks work with the service provider in a partnership.