Person-centred care: "Right! Down! Down! Riiggghhht again! Spot On!"

-|- Person-centred care is one of the Grails of health and social care. It is up there with holistic care, which it precedes since holistic care needs a subject (discuss?).

In terms of Hodges' model the 'person' (for me) is to the upper-left-of-centre. Why there? Well, you really understand why when helping people cope through dementia.

It is no surprise that the development of person centred care and personhood have been especially concentrated and emphasised in the care of people living with dementia.

They need to be and constantly refreshed too - everyone forgets - some of us more than others.

Physically of course 'person' translates to the upper-right quadrant. So there you have it - in the INDIVIDUAL-group axis the classic dichotomy-debate: MIND-BODY.

I have no argument with the need for person-centred care, but faced with a Grail and the bright light that can encompass it, safety and respect dictates we step back. From a distance we can then see that person-centred care is only part of a much bigger picture.

At the end of the day (and night!) we need to be centred full-stop.

If not then saying the words that count such as dignity, respect, choice, privacy will echo in the intra-INTERPERSONAL domain and make everyone feel good in the SOCIOLOGICAL domain. All very worthy but possibly without making an impact where it counts - in the POLITICAL domain.

By placing the person at the centre of Hodges' model ALL the
domains are ready to hand and mind.