Person Centred Care Principles

This paper aims to identify and explain the principles required in delivering effective person centred care. This will be done by looking at the principles involved, and providing an explanation in evidence to support why it is important in delivering such care to patients. Although person-centred care (PCC) is a term that has become increasingly recognised over the years within the care industry, the term ‘Patient-centred’ was first used 50 years ago by a psychologist named Carl Rogers (The Health Foundation, 2013). PCC has since evolved and the principles are now recognised worldwide, yet the concept of PCC is not that new as America have been using it since 1970 (McCance, McCormack & Dewing, 2011). There have, however been variations
SDM is a standard of care which involves the individual and their families in the decisions regarding their health. It allows them to choose the treatment they receive and how they receive it. They are provided with all the information available regarding their health, which is explained to them in a clear concise way that they understand, without the use of jargon. They are listened to and the service users’ views and beliefs are respected (Royal College of Nursing, 2009), regardless of what the healthcare professional (HCP) may believe. SDM became the responsibility of National Health Service (NHS) England after it ceased being part of the Quality, Innovation, Productivity and Prevention (QIPP) Right Care programme in 2013 (NHS England, 2015). It is now part of the NHS constitution and it states that the patient is at the heart of every decision made and they have the right to take part in the decisions made about them (NHS constitution, 2015). As highlighted by Coulter (2012), nobody knows the patient better than themselves, hence the importance of involving two kinds of expertise, one being the clinician and one being the patient. The reason it is referred to as ‘Person’ centred care and not ‘patient’ centred care is because it involves more than just the patient, as described in the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) principle D, it includes everyone that is involved in the care such as family and carers. Families are more likely to be involved in the decision making if the patient is too ill to make the decisions alone, or if the patient does not have the capacity, and it is important that HCPs actively listen to what the families are saying as it is the family that may be the ones who are providing the care once the patient is discharged (Frampton, 2009). The patient is provided with the information and options to help them understand which treatment would have the best outcome