At Recovery Frameworks, our company and team utilize the principles of person-centered care (PCC) to guide our actions internally and with the individuals we work with. But what exactly is person-centered care? The term is becoming quite popular in therapy and medicine, but the definition seems to be challenging to pin down.
In an article written for The Journal of Holistic Nursing, Stephanie Morgan and Linda Yoder define person-centered care as “a holistic (bio-psychosocial-spiritual) approach to delivering care that is respectful and individualized, allow[s] negotiation of care, and offer[s] choice through a therapeutic relationship where persons are empowered to be involved in health decisions at whatever level is desired by that individual who is receiving the care.” This definition is roomy, but if we break it down further we believe that we can help the reader to understand the core ideas of PCC and the benefits inherent to working within its philosophies.
Holistic, Individualized, and Empowering
Holistic care is another term that has become quite widespread in our culture. As noted above, the core idea is acknowledging and addressing every part of a person when considering steps to move forward. One must address the aspects of every individual through their biological, social, psychological, and spiritual factors. As it pertains to substance use disorder, the acceptance of this philosophy is demonstrated in the rising popularity of the concept of “recovery capital,” the belief that recovery is contingent upon the internal and external assets available to the individual in recovery. These assets include, but are not limited to, family life, support groups, work with clinicians, physical exercise, and financial security. As each of these factors is addressed, the person will be able to utilize them to live a fulfilling life away from substances and maintain recovery when challenges arise.
Holistic care must be complemented by individualized support. Maintaining the example of recovering from substance use disorder, one person may struggle with their network of peers, while another is struggling with discovering their motivations, and still, another may not have a bed that they know they can sleep on that night. Each of these presents challenges to maintaining recovery, and each one requires an individualized approach. Recovery is different for everyone. Each person has strengths and struggles in different areas of their life. Individualized care is taking a look at these strengths and weaknesses in an individual to support them with tailor-made levels of care.
Finally, the definition above states that person-centered care must empower the person to become involved with the decision-making process. By acknowledging that a person is an expert on their life and feelings, we become motivated to understand their experience and allow them to guide their recovery. Empowerment is a key principle of person-centered care. Empowerment changes the narrative of how individuals go about their recovery. By allowing people to take charge of their recovery journey, we become informed of their individual needs and wants and how to assist them.
Person-Centered Care at Recovery Frameworks
As an organization, we strive to engrain the philosophies of person-centered care into our culture. Our Case Managers keep extensive maps of each of the communities to provide a suite of resources to individuals, understanding that different resources meet different people’s needs. Case Managers work to understand each person that we work with before we even select a recovery coach for them. Only once we understand the person, their interests, and their goals, will we introduce them to one of our Recovery Coaches. Our Recovery Coaches and Companions are trained to understand the tenets of person-centered care. They will have many goals when they begin work with an individual, but they will understand that one of the most important is helping them develop and work towards their own goals.
To learn more about Recovery Frameworks and our work grounded by person-centered care, feel free to reach out and speak to a team member today. To read the full article that our definition came from, please visit this link.