SCIE Practice guide 09: Dignity in care
Dignity challenge
3. Treat each person as an individual by offering a personalised service
By this we mean:
The attitude and behaviour of managers and staff help to preserve the individual’s identity and individuality. Services are not standardised but are personalised and tailored to each individual. Staff take time to get to know the person receiving services and agree with them how formally or informally they would prefer to be addressed.
Dignity tests:
- Do our policies and practices promote care and support for the whole person?
- Do our policies and practices respect beliefs and values important to the person receiving services?
- Do our care and support consider individual physical, cultural, spiritual, psychological and social needs and preferences?
- Do our policies and practices challenge discrimination, promote equality, respect individual needs, preferences and choices, and protect human rights?
Some ideas from practice:
- Providing advocacy support
- Peter’s story: how an advocate helped him express his wishes
- Champions programme in the Black Country
- Person-centred care assessment at Birmingham and Solihull Mental Health Trust
- Transport with care (Lincolnshire Teaching Primary Care Trust)
- Cooking with Care (Barchester Healthcare)
- The Hospital Book (Barnet Learning Disabilities Service)
- Improving the mealtime experience (Methodist Homes for the Aged)
- Red tray system
- Knife and Fork Symbol (United Bristol Healthcare NHS Trust)
- Enhanced pathways into care (EPiC), Sheffield
Other resources
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