Person-centered care looks at the whole senior--not just their weaknesses and their struggles, but their overall quality of life. By choosing a facility that focuses on this type of care, you don't just increase quality of life.

The Importance of Person-Centered Care in Senior Care Facilities

When you're looking for a senior care facility for your loved one, you want to be sure that you're choosing a center that offers person-centered care. This simple shift in the way the staff, including doctors, physical therapists, and more, chooses to interact with your loved one can make a big difference in the way they're treated as well as the way they feel. From short-term care following illness or injury to long-term care as overall health deteriorates, person-centered care has a number of key advantages. 

What is Person-Centered Care?

Person-centered care is care that focuses on the individual as a whole person, rather than looking at them as a series of medical problems that simply have to contended with. It notes not just treatments for illnesses and conditions, instead choosing to take into consideration several other aspects of care. Person-centered care includes a heavy emphasis on:

• Building relationships and continuing those critical interactions with other people, whether that means encouraging interaction between residents or encouraging relationship-building activities between residents and friends and family members outside the facility.
• Keeping up with an individual's interests, including their hobbies, causes, and more.
• Paying attention to the things that are important to each senior.
• Noting activities that are of interest to the individual and encouraging them throughout the facility. 

How Do You Find the Right Facility?

If you're looking for a senior care facility where person-centered care is at the heart of the facility, there are several key things to look for. 

Note the activities that are available. Does the facility focus on a wide range of activities, or are there only a handful of things to do?

How is the facility laid out? Are there plenty of opportunities for residents to interact with one another, complete with rooms where they can play games, chat, watch television, and more; or does the primary interaction take place in the seniors' rooms?

How do staff members interact with the seniors under their care? Do they make it obvious that they care about the seniors as individuals, with careful attention to their needs, likes and dislikes, and more; or do they tend to focus on their needs as patients and ignore their opinions?

What does the interaction between seniors look like? Overall, do the seniors tend to be friendly to one another and welcoming to visitors, or do they tend to keep to themselves?

When you're considering a senior care facility, take the time to sit, listen, and ask questions of your own. Watch the interactions between caregivers and seniors and the interactions between residents of the facility. This simple observation can tell you a great deal about the priorities of the care providers throughout the facility and help substantially impact your choice.

Why Choose Person-Centered Care?

Person-centered care looks at the whole senior--not just their weaknesses and their struggles, but their overall quality of life. By choosing a facility that focuses on this type of care, you don't just increase quality of life. You can also extend life by helping seniors to focus outside of their struggles on the things that have meaning to them, offer more opportunities for them to remain active, and encourage them to continue to take part in the things that mean most to them. The senior years can be some of the most satisfying for many individuals, and the right care facility can make a big difference in the quality of those years. 

At Church Home Lifespring, we focus on person-centered care that is aimed to benefit every senior at our facility. If you're looking for a facility where you know your loved one will be cared for and the whole person taken into consideration, contact us today to learn more or to arrange a tour of our facility.