Person-Centred Care: A Practical Guide for Care Staff

Person-centred care is one of the fundamental principles of high-quality adult social care. It means recognising that every person receiving support is an individual with their own history, preferences, abilities, relationships, beliefs and aspirations.

Good care should therefore not simply revolve around completing a list of tasks.

Helping someone wash, dress, eat, take medication or participate in activities is important, but how that support is provided matters just as much. People should be involved in decisions about their lives and supported to retain as much choice, dignity, independence and control as possible.

For care workers, person-centred practice means moving away from asking:

“What tasks do I need to complete?”

and instead thinking:

“What matters to this person, and how can I support them in the way that is right for them?”

In this guide, we explore what person-centred care means in everyday practice and how care staff can help ensure that each person remains at the heart of their own care.

What Does Person-Centred Care Mean?

Person-centred care means providing care and support around the individual rather than expecting the individual to fit around the routines of the service.

It recognises that two people with apparently similar care needs may want very different forms of support.

For example, two residents may both require assistance getting ready in the morning.

One may have spent their working life getting up at 6am and still enjoy an early start.

Another may have always preferred staying up late and sleeping until 9am.

Providing exactly the same morning routine to both people might be convenient for the service, but it would not necessarily be person-centred.

Instead, staff should consider each person’s preferences wherever reasonably possible.

Person-centred care can involve:

Individual needs
Personal preferences
Life history
Communication needs
Relationships
Culture and beliefs
Daily routines
Abilities and strengths
Personal goals
Interests and hobbies
Choices
Independence
Dignity and privacy

The person should remain an active participant in their care rather than becoming a passive recipient of services.

Person-Centred Care Is More Than Being Kind

Kindness and compassion are essential qualities in care, but person-centred practice goes further.

A member of staff could be extremely kind while still making decisions for someone unnecessarily.

For example:

“I’ve chosen your clothes and brought your breakfast because I thought that would make things easier for you.”

The intention may be good, but the person has lost two opportunities to make everyday choices.

A more person-centred approach might involve asking what they would like to wear and offering breakfast choices in a way they can understand.

Small decisions matter.

Being able to choose when to get up, what to wear, what to eat, where to sit or how to spend the afternoon can contribute enormously to someone’s sense of identity and control.

Why Person-Centred Care Matters

Moving into a care environment can involve significant changes in someone’s life.

A person may have previously:

Managed their own home
Cooked their own meals
Chosen their daily routine
Managed their finances
Raised a family
Worked for decades
Travelled independently
Participated in their community
Maintained hobbies and friendships

Needing care does not erase that person’s identity.

Person-centred care helps preserve the things that make someone who they are.

It can support:

Dignity
Independence
Emotional wellbeing
Confidence
Meaningful relationships
Choice and control
Individual identity
Engagement with care
Quality of life

Understanding the person rather than simply understanding their care needs can make an enormous difference to their experience.

Person-Centred Care and CQC Expectations

Person-centred care is also an important regulatory requirement.

Regulation 9 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014 requires care and treatment to be appropriate, meet people’s needs and reflect their preferences.

Providers are expected to work collaboratively with people when assessing their needs and preferences and support them to understand and participate in decisions about their care.

Person-centred practice should therefore be visible throughout a service — not simply written into policies.

Our guide to CQC training requirements for care homes explores the wider importance of ensuring staff have appropriate knowledge and competence.

Managers preparing their teams for inspection may also find our CQC inspection staff training checklist useful.

Start by Getting to Know the Person

Person-centred care becomes difficult if staff know very little about the individual.

Care plans should contain important information, but meaningful conversations and everyday interaction can help staff understand much more.

Useful things to learn may include:

Where the person grew up
Their previous occupation
Important relationships
Family life
Favourite foods
Music preferences
Hobbies
Religious or cultural beliefs
Significant life events
Things they dislike
Daily routines
How they prefer to communicate
What makes them anxious
What helps them feel comfortable
Their personal goals

This knowledge can transform apparently routine care into meaningful interaction.

A resident who rarely engages in organised activities, for example, may become animated when discussing the football club they supported for 60 years.

Knowing someone’s story helps staff see the individual rather than simply their room number, diagnosis or care needs.

Promote Choice in Everyday Care

Choice does not only involve major medical or care decisions.

Some of the most important choices happen during ordinary daily routines.

Where appropriate, people may be able to choose:

When they get up
What they wear
What they eat
Where they eat
When they go to bed
How they spend their day
Which activities they join
Whether they want company
How their room is arranged
Who is involved in their care
How they prefer personal care to be provided

Staff should avoid creating unnecessary restrictions simply because a particular routine is easier for the organisation.

Support Independence Rather Than Automatically Taking Over

One of the easiest traps in care work is doing something for someone because it is quicker.

Person-centred care asks a different question:

What can this person still do for themselves?

A resident might need help preparing for breakfast but still be able to:

Wash their face
Brush their hair
Choose their clothing
Pour a drink
Butter their toast
Walk part of the journey to the dining room
Decide where they want to sit

Providing the right amount of support rather than automatically taking over can help maintain skills, confidence and independence.

Independence does not necessarily mean doing everything without assistance.

Sometimes independence means receiving exactly the right support to continue doing as much as possible yourself.

Protect Dignity and Privacy

Dignity is closely connected with person-centred care.

People receiving care may need support with very personal aspects of daily living, including washing, dressing, toileting and continence care.

Staff should consider how they would want to be treated in the same circumstances.

Good practice can include:

Knocking before entering a bedroom
Closing doors and curtains during personal care
Explaining what is happening
Asking permission before beginning
Covering the person appropriately
Speaking respectfully
Avoiding unnecessary exposure
Discussing confidential information privately
Giving people sufficient time
Respecting personal preferences

Small actions can have a significant impact on someone’s dignity.

Communicate in a Way the Person Understands

Person-centred communication means adapting communication to the individual rather than expecting everyone to communicate in the same way.

Some people may need:

More time to process information
Simple language
Visual prompts
Written information
Large print
Hearing support
Sign language
Communication aids
Reduced background noise
Information repeated or presented differently

Staff should also consider non-verbal communication.

Facial expression, posture, behaviour and tone of voice may provide valuable information, particularly when someone has difficulty communicating verbally.

People should be given enough time to express themselves rather than having others automatically speak for them.

Person-Centred Care and Dementia

Person-centred practice is particularly important when supporting someone living with dementia.

A diagnosis of dementia should never become the person’s entire identity.

Someone living with dementia still has:

Preferences
Emotions
Relationships
Memories
Abilities
Interests
Personality
Rights
A personal history

Understanding the individual’s life story can help staff communicate and provide meaningful support.

For example, repeatedly asking someone to participate in an unfamiliar group activity may cause distress. Knowing that they previously enjoyed gardening could allow staff to offer something much more meaningful.

Our Dementia Awareness Training for Care Staff guide explores this area in greater detail.

Mental Capacity Does Not Mean Removing Choice

Person-centred care is closely connected with the Mental Capacity Act.

Staff should never assume someone lacks capacity simply because of their age, diagnosis, appearance or disability.

Capacity is decision-specific and can also vary depending on circumstances.

A person who cannot make one complex decision may still be perfectly capable of making many everyday decisions.

Where someone requires support to make a decision, reasonable steps should be taken to help them understand and participate.

If a person lacks capacity for a particular decision, the Mental Capacity Act framework must be followed.

Our article on Mental Capacity Act and DoLS awareness provides further guidance for care teams.

Respect the Person’s Culture, Beliefs and Identity

Person-centred care should recognise the whole person.

Cultural background, religion, beliefs and identity can influence:

Food choices
Clothing
Personal care
Religious observance
Communication
Family relationships
Festivals
End-of-life wishes
Daily routines

Staff should avoid making assumptions.

Two people from the same cultural or religious background may have very different preferences.

The correct approach is to understand what matters to the individual.

Involve Families Appropriately

Families, friends, carers and advocates can provide valuable information about someone’s history, preferences and communication.

Their involvement can be particularly useful where the person has difficulty communicating.

However, person-centred care does not mean automatically allowing relatives to make decisions for the person.

The individual’s wishes, consent and legal rights remain central.

Staff should establish whether and how the person wants family members or others involved and follow the appropriate legal framework where someone lacks capacity for a particular decision.

Person-Centred Nutrition and Hydration

Mealtimes provide many opportunities for person-centred practice.

People may have preferences relating to:

Food
Portion size
Mealtimes
Drinks
Where they eat
Cultural or religious diets
Assistance
Dining companions
Presentation

Care staff should also recognise that people’s needs can change.

Someone may require support with nutrition or hydration while still retaining meaningful choices about what and how they eat and drink.

Our guides to nutrition and hydration in care homes and preventing dehydration provide further practical information.

Person-Centred Medication Support

Medicines management should also respect individual involvement and choice.

Where appropriate, residents should understand their medicines and participate in decisions relating to them.

Some people may be able and wish to manage aspects of their own medication, subject to appropriate assessment and safe arrangements.

Staff should also understand how to respond appropriately to questions, concerns or refusals.

Our Medication Awareness in Care Homes guide provides further information about safe and respectful medication support.

Person-Centred End-of-Life Care

Person-centred practice becomes particularly important when supporting someone approaching the end of their life.

People may have individual wishes regarding:

Comfort
Family involvement
Spiritual support
Environment
Communication
Food and drink
Privacy
Personal routines
Where they wish to receive care

Sensitive communication and respect for individual preferences can help protect dignity during an extremely important period of someone’s life.

Our article on End of Life Care Awareness Training explores compassionate, individualised support in greater detail.

Balance Choice With Safety

Person-centred care does not mean that staff simply agree to every request without considering risk.

People should be supported to understand relevant choices, risks and benefits so they can participate meaningfully in decisions.

Consider a resident who enjoys walking independently but has recently experienced a fall.

Automatically preventing them from walking may reduce one risk while significantly restricting their independence.

A person-centred approach might instead consider:

Why walking matters to them
Their ability and capacity to make relevant decisions
Appropriate mobility aids
Footwear
Environmental hazards
Physiotherapy advice where appropriate
Suitable supervision
Ways of reducing risk without unnecessarily removing independence

Good care seeks a proportionate balance between safety and autonomy.

Avoid Task-Led Care

Task-led care occurs when completing routines becomes more important than the experience of the person receiving support.

Examples might include:

Task-led:
“Everyone needs to be dressed before breakfast.”

Person-centred:
“Mr Patel prefers breakfast in his dressing gown and gets dressed afterwards.”

Task-led:
“Baths are on Tuesdays.”

Person-centred:
“Mrs Evans prefers an evening bath twice a week.”

Task-led:
“Everyone eats lunch in the dining room.”

Person-centred:
“Mr Taylor enjoys the dining room most days but sometimes prefers lunch quietly in his room.”

Care homes inevitably need routines and organisation, but routines should support people rather than unnecessarily control them.

Keep Care Plans Person-Centred

A good care plan should tell staff more than what tasks need completing.

It should help them understand the person.

Compare:

“Requires assistance with dressing.”

with:

“Margaret likes to choose her own clothes. She can dress her upper body independently but needs support with buttons and footwear. She prefers staff to give her time rather than completing these tasks for her.”

The second version gives staff considerably more information about how to provide personalised support.

Care plans should reflect current needs, preferences, abilities and goals and should be reviewed when circumstances change.

Listen When People’s Preferences Change

Person-centred care is not something completed once during an initial assessment.

People change.

Their health, abilities, relationships, interests and preferences may change over time.

Someone who previously enjoyed group activities may begin preferring quieter activities.

A resident who once wanted family members involved in every decision may later want more privacy.

Care staff should notice these changes and ensure relevant information is communicated and recorded appropriately.

Regular review helps prevent outdated care plans from driving current care.

Training Staff in Person-Centred Practice

Policies alone cannot create person-centred care.

Staff need the knowledge, confidence and organisational support to put the principles into practice.

Training can help employees understand:

Dignity
Choice
Independence
Communication
Consent
Mental capacity
Equality and diversity
Safeguarding
Individualised care
Professional boundaries

Ongoing refresher training can help reinforce these principles and encourage staff to reflect on their everyday practice.

Managers should also use supervision, observations, team meetings and feedback to explore whether person-centred principles are genuinely being applied.

A Practical Person-Centred Care Checklist

During everyday care, staff can ask themselves:

Have I asked the person what they want?
Have I listened to their answer?
Am I giving them enough time?
Am I supporting rather than unnecessarily taking over?
Have I respected their privacy?
Do I understand their communication needs?
Am I making assumptions?
Do I know what matters to this person?
Am I following their current care plan?
Have their preferences changed?
Am I promoting independence wherever reasonably possible?
Would I be comfortable receiving care in this way myself?

These simple questions can help turn person-centred principles into everyday practice.

Building a Person-Centred Culture

Person-centred care should not depend on one particularly good member of staff.

It should be embedded throughout the organisation.

Managers can support this by:

Recruiting staff with appropriate values
Providing effective induction
Delivering relevant training
Encouraging reflective practice
Listening to residents
Acting on feedback
Involving people in care planning
Reviewing care plans regularly
Supporting staff to raise concerns
Recognising good practice
Learning from complaints and incidents

Person-centred care becomes strongest when the organisation consistently asks not simply “Are we completing the care?” but “What experience are we creating for the person receiving it?”

Putting the Person at the Heart of Care

Person-centred care is ultimately about recognising the person behind the care plan.

Every individual receiving support has a unique life story, personality, preferences, relationships and aspirations.

High-quality care should protect those things rather than allowing them to disappear beneath routines and procedures.

For care workers, person-centred practice often comes down to everyday actions: listening before acting, offering meaningful choices, supporting independence, respecting privacy, communicating effectively and taking time to understand what matters to the individual.

When those principles become part of everyday practice, care becomes more than a collection of tasks.

It becomes support built around the person.

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What Is Person-Centred Care? A Practical Guide for Care Staff