New framework to promote person-centred approaches in healthcare

Today Health Education England, Skills for Health and Skills for Care have announced a new Framework to support person-centred approaches for the health and social care workforce.

A person-centred approach, as outlined in the Five Year Forward View, puts people, families and communities at the heart of health, care and wellbeing.  It encourages people to speak with staff about what they find important, helping to develop a shared understanding of what matters to them.

The new framework, helps workers communicate meaningfully both verbally and non-verbally, tailoring the care and advice they give to suit peoples’ needs. It supports individuals to better manage their own health and wellbeing through bespoke care, planning and support. Where appropriate, the framework encourages shared decision making, outlining all reasonable options and ensuring that all information is personalised, accessible and useful.

The framework, was informed by health and social care experts and people who are experts by experience, drawing on existing person-centred approaches and applying them to today’s health and care landscape.

The value of a person-centred approach is increasingly recognised and for many health and social care workers, engaging in a meaningful way with people and communities is already part of their intrinsic motivation.  This is also seen through practices like health coaching, shared decision making, co-production and care and support planning. However, it is often less clear how best to develop the workforce to enable them to put person-centred approaches into practice to support people to make the sustained behavioural changes, they choose to make , which is the purpose of this framework.

Ged Byrne, Director of Education and Quality (North) for Health Education England said:

We recognise the importance of making sure that people feel included and in control over their circumstances and that their contact with the providers of their treatment and care is meaningful and constructive.

We were delighted to work in collaboration with Skills for Health and Skills for Care to develop the new framework to try and make it easier for the workforce to develop genuine partnerships with people and families. The approaches outlined will help effectively plan, design and deliver care based on a person’s individual needs, giving them confidence to take actions to improve their own health and wellbeing.