What do we mean when we say we are person-centred. This is a question that Baptistcare staff will be encouraged to ask more and more in the future. This morning a group of our staff met with representatives of Curtin University’s Centre for Research into Disability and Society, to hear about plans for a research project that will seek to develop Baptistcare’s person-centred culture and practice. The project will include both Honours and Masters level research and will help us to jointly develop an approach to person-centredness that reaches across the ageing, disability and mental health sectors within the organisation.
Professor Errol Cocks presented a summary this morning of what person-centredness is in health and human services. This is a good starting point and I hope that it provides opportunity for us to develop this question more effectively in the future.
Person-centredness is a focus on the person that emphasises:
• Providing support to the individual that closely reflects the person’s needs and preferences;
• Responding to the person by acknowledging and working through his/ her strengths;
• Enabling the person and/or those close to the person to have a strong influence over that support;
• Promoting informal relationships as much as possible.
Where is person-centredness to be seen in a service?
• In an organisation culture
• In relationships within and outside the organisation;
• In the manner in which the organisation plans for the people it serves;
• In the manner in which the organisation provides its services;
• In the manner in which the organisation supports its workers and other key stakeholders such as families.
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