Your work is running a campaign to improve staff understanding of all aspects of person centred care.
You have been asked to create the following materials:
[Aii] A hand out which explains why person centred values are important and how they influence social care work
PERSON CENTRED VALUES IN SOCIAL CARE
Why Are Person-Centred Values Important?
Person-centred values are of the utmost importance in social care because they put the individual at the heart of their support.
It is based on the premise that an individual is the expert in what support they require and should work closely with health professionals and others including their family, relations and friends to devise the support plan that is best for them.
Person-centred values include:
- Individuality – Everyone is an individual with their own needs, goals, beliefs and values.
- Choice – Everyone should be free to make their own choices in life and be given the information they need to make decisions in a way that they can understand.
- Independence – Everyone should be empowered to do as much as possible for themselves.
- Rights – Everyone has human rights that should be respected and upheld.
- Privacy – Everyone has the right to their own private space and time and their private information should only be shared on a ‘need-to-know’ basis.
- Dignity – Everyone deserves to be treated in a dignified manner and time should be taken to ensure they are treated with dignity.
- Respect – Everyone should have their thought, opinions and beliefs respected even if others do not agree with them.
- Partnership – Everyone involved in an individual’s care should work together to achieve the best possible outcomes. This includes the individual, their families and health professionals.
How Do Person-Centred Values Influence Social Care Work?
With regards social care work, person centred values should be used to ensure that the care and support an individual receives is unique to them and that they are that the centre of the decision-making process.
Individuals should not be required to fit in with a ‘one size fits all’ system. They should not have to change the way they live to get support, the service provider should change their way of working to fit in with the individual.
The personal beliefs and opinions of the individual should be respected, even if employees of the service provider disagree with them.
Similarly, any decisions that an individual makes should be respected and they should be given the support to follow through with their decisions even if employees of the service provider deem them to be unwise or they go against their own personal beliefs.
Service providers must get to know the individuals that they are supporting in order to understand and provide the support that they need. As well as communicating with the individual, the service provider can get information from the individual’s family and friends as well as other health and social care professionals.