The Implementation of a Model of Person-Centred Practice In Older ...

The implementation of a model of person-centred practice in older person settings
the ward facilitated a process to find out if other residents would be interested in
making the trip to knock which is approximately 50 miles from Carrick on Shannon.
The outcome was that five residents, three of whom were accompanied by their
families and staff members went on a day trip to Knock Shrine in 2008. Feedback
was very positive from everyone, one of the residents has since died and the family
have specifically expressed how they enjoyed the experience and how much it meant
to their mother and also to them to be able to make this trip.
Nutrition and Mealtimes
During the programme, development work commenced in relation to nutrition and
mealtimes for residents in both sites. This was identified as a result of observations
of care, environment observations and patient narratives and staff/resident
discussion and also in response to HIQA standards. Action plans that include the
establishment of working groups are currently in progress in both sites, this is long
term work involving the MDT and has many different perspectives. Providing choice
around particular foods has been achieved at the request of residents, the following
example demonstrates this, one resident identified that his relative brought him
strawberries every year and it was a special treat, he was unaware that he could
have strawberries everyday if he wanted, but he didn’t know and it was only through
dialogue with residents in a meaningful way that this resident was able to voice his
opinion and choice to a staff member. The learning achieved demonstrated that by
utilising PD process and the Person-centred Care framework person-centred
outcomes can be achieved.
End of Life Care
End of life care issues were introduced and linkages to the resources from the
Hospice Friendly Hospitals (HfH) Programme were accessed by both sites. In
Falcarragh the introduction of ‘Hospice Friendly Handover Bags’ and sympathy cards
for relatives of the bereaved was successful and is now a firmly established practice
and was initiated by the PD group.
The PD group in St Patrick’s are involved in action planning in relation to end of life
care and have established two multidisciplinary sub groups and have been expanded
to include members of staff outside of the PD group including community
representations for example, spiritual leaders, General Practitioners, volunteer
representatives, HSE estates and funeral directors. The sub groups work
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