Person-centred care in dementia: Philosophy and challenges in implementation

Abstract

Health care concept is increasingly moving away from medical, task oriented and professional driven model towards a holistic model of health care which values the needs of the persons and centred on the needs of the patients. This shift is described as person centred care. Despite the wide availability of literature, philosophy and evidence on the outcomes of the person centred care, barely it is an ideal in reality. This present article throws light on the philosophy and challenges of person centred care and tries to raise the awareness and understanding about person centred care for people with dementia and explores on the challenges underpinning person-centred care in dementia.Person centred care means, being “respectful of and responsive to individual patient preferences, needs, and values and ensuring that patient values guide all clinical decisions”. Each individual has unique history, personality, values, right to dignity, respect and right to participation. PCC framework emphasises on the assumptions made about the people with dementia, care givers attitude, models and care practices, factors at organisational level, cultural factors as well as structural elements such as lighting and flooring. It is a holistic philosophy across the continuum of services which takes into account the specific needs of each person. The philosophy of person centred care focuses on “the abilities and strength of the person than the losses” and on “the person than on the condition”.Lack of clarity in understanding person centred care in dementia, lack of research evidence, not valuing the views and needs of people with dementia, organisational culture, task centred care culture, lack of resources. : To improve quality of life of people with dementia and for the better functioning of the people with dementia there is a need for greater implementation of person centred care. However the challenges in the implementation of person centred care are masking the achievements and positive aspects of the person centred care approach. The challenge ahead for dementia experts is to advocate and raise the awareness and understanding and to provide evidence based solutions in practically implementing person centred care and making it more real in practice than keeping it ideal in literature.