Teaching Person-Centered Care in Geriatrics

Person-centered care is a conceptual approach to healthcare where the person receiving care is encouraged to realize their health goals within the broader context of their life goals in order to align healthcare to what they believe is a meaningful life . In order for this goal to be achieved, it is necessary that the healthcare teams caring for this person have an accurate understanding of what the person’s values are in order to facilitate forward movement toward those stated goals. This framework is particularly relevant in caring for older adults, where the layers of nuance and complexity of their life’s history can help create a treatment plan that is individualized and tailored. This paradigm shift toward a person-centered approach to healthcare comes on the heels of an evolution of the dominant health care model, ranging from the biomedical model, to the biopsychosocial to the patient-centered care model. This chapter will outline definitions of person-centered care and apply this approach to the geriatric 5Ms framework as well as explore ways to teach and implement person-centered care.