submit a 3000 words paper on the topic Person-centred Care
Medicare hospice .beneficiaries had a primary hospice diagnosis of .Alzheimer’s Disease or non-Alzheimer’s dementia .(CMS, 2013d). Many individuals with advanced .dementia also have other severe medical .conditions (Chen et al., 2007), and it is likely that .substantial proportions of Medicare hospice .beneficiaries with other primary hospice .diagnoses also have dementia. Because many .people with dementia are receiving care in each .of these settings, it is essential for professional, .paraprofessional, and direct care workers in these .settings to understand what it means to provide .person-centred care for people with dementia.
The concept of person-centred care as .articulated in the IOM report quoted above .certainly fits with the care needs of people .with dementia. When moving from this general .concept into day-to-day practice, however, .questions arise about how to put some components .of the idea into operation. In .particular, how can care providers know the .preferences, needs, and values of a person .with dementia? How can they ensure that the .person’s values guide all decisions .about his or her care? To what extent, .and exactly how can they involve .families in care decisions without .compromising the fundamental focus .on individual autonomy and choice? .And how can the person-centeredness .of the care they provide be measured .if the person is not cognitively capable of completing .the survey questionnaires now being .used to evaluate the patient experience of care?
Over the past twenty-five years, thinking .about person-centred care for people with .dementia has evolved, sometimes about .the general concept of person-centred care for .all people, but more often in a parallel but mostly .separate track. In the United States, thinking .about person-centred care for people with .dementia has been strongly influenced by the .ideas of Tom Kitwood and others in England .(see Kitwood, 1997a, 1997b. Kitwood, 1988). .The philosophy and care practices that incorporate .these ideas and related ideas of U.S. dementia .care experts and experts elsewhere are .often referred to as person-centred dementia .care. Compared with the large number of care .providers employed in settings that serve people .with dementia, the number who know about person-centred dementia care is relatively .small. Yet the ideas put forward by Kitwood .and others provide a strong conceptual basis, .compelling insights, and valuable practice-based .knowledge about person-centred care for .people with dementia.
The current government and non-government .initiatives to increase the availability of person-centred .care for all people create opportunities .to expand its availability for people with .dementia. Achieving this outcome depends, .however, on significantly raised awareness about .the importance and value of person-centred .care for people with dementia and broader understanding .about how it can be implemented in .day-to-day practice
