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. 2022 Dec 1;25(4):336-346.
doi: 10.5770/cgj.25.597. eCollection 2022 Dec.

"I Hope That the People Caring for Me Know About Me": Exploring Person-Centred Care and the Quality of Dementia Care

Bryan B Franco  1 , Veronique M Boscart  2 , Jacobi Elliott  3 , Sherry Dupuis  4 , Lisa Loiselle  5 , Linda Lee  6   7 , George A Heckman  3   8
Affiliations

"I Hope That the People Caring for Me Know About Me": Exploring Person-Centred Care and the Quality of Dementia Care

Bryan B Franco et al. Can Geriatr J. .

Abstract

Background: Person-centred care is at the core of high-quality dementia care but people living with dementia are often excluded from quality improvement efforts. We sought to explore person-centred care and quality of care from the perspectives of persons living with dementia in the community and their care partners.

Methods: We used a qualitative descriptive approach with in-person, semi-structured interviews with 17 participants (9 persons living with dementia and 8 care partners) from Ontario, Canada.

Results: Participants report that person-centred care is essential to the quality of dementia care. Three themes were identified that describe connections between person-centred care and quality of care: 1) "I hope that the people looking after me know about me", 2) "I just like to understand [what's happening] as we go down the road", and 3) "But the doctor doesn't even know all the resources that are available." Participants perceived that quality indicators over-emphasized technical/medical aspects of care and do not entirely capture quality of care.

Conclusions: Persons living with dementia and their care partners provide important insights into person-centredness and quality of care. Their perspectives on "quality" may differ from clinicians and researchers. Research is needed to better integrate their perspectives in quality improvement and person-centred care.

Keywords: dementia; person-centred care; quality improvement; quality of care.

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Conflict of interest statement

CONFLICT OF INTEREST DISCLOSURES We have read and understood the Canadian Geriatrics Journal’s policy on conflicts of interest disclosure and declare there are no conflicts of interest.

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