When looking after seniors, an organised approach is crucial to meeting their physical and emotional needs. Within the sector, a formalised way this is catered for is with what's known as an elderly care plan. They're created specifically for the person who's being cared for, and their importance is something we shine a light on here.
What Is The Importance Of Maintaining Care Plans For The Elderly?
When you study aged care online, it quickly becomes evident that a lot needs to be considered for each senior's care plan. Human beings are complex, and individual or person-centred planning can be pretty tricky for a hitherto independent person.
This planning includes:
- Deciding what a person wants from life
- Identifying what is needed to make their needs a reality
- Determining how to meet these needs
- Arranging the required resources
- Organising access to support
- Implementing the actions decided in the plan
- Evaluating the progress and outcome of the activity undertaken
Without a structured approach, it becomes easier to miss things, and when that happens, the person being cared for is the one that's impacted. Interestingly, the nature of this care plan changes depending on the setting in which it's implemented.
Aged Care Plans For Residential & Community Settings
In the context of aged care services, the individual planning process may include an Individual Care Plan (residential setting), a Home Care Plan or a Domestic Assistance Plan (community setting), depending upon the level of support and type of service required.
The process described above may prove more difficult for an ageing person experiencing memory loss, dementia, grief and/or loss and may require significant levels of assistance to undertake a planning process - further illustrating why it's so necessary.
Giving Seniors Control Of Their Lives
Consequently, involving others, such as health professionals, and their opinions will be necessary for planning the support required. The effectiveness and reliability of the information and assistance they offer become pivotal features of the planning process.
The opinions and actions of these support personnel are central to the successful planning and resultant service provision. Good planning is often marked by its ability to enable the ageing person to assert a level of control closely matched to the level of their capabilities.
Supporting Successful Ageing
Promoting successful ageing is an important outcome when working with people who are ageing. Successful and positive ageing will mean different things to different people, but there is typically a theme that's common to everybody, including elements like:
- The opportunity to stay in their own home for as long as possible with access to support services
- Having current & future needs met via appropriate support strategies,
- Participating in activities that are meaningful to the person on a regular basis
- Being able to maximise independence and control over one's life
- Being seen as an active, valued member of the community
- Easy access to services and facilities for an ageing population
- focusing on strengths and person-centred planning
- Access to a variety of appropriate transport options
- The presence of good physical & mental health
- Opportunities for lifelong learning
- A safe, secure living environment
- Uphold Basic Rights
For successful ageing to occur, it is essential that you are aware of and uphold the fundamental human rights of the elderly person in question, which covers the right to:
- Be informed about their rights, care, and accommodation
- Complain and take steps to sort out any problems
- Good quality care that meets all of the client's needs
- Be in charge of their life, money and possessions
- Be treated with dignity and respect
- Advocacy support
- Privacy
A care plan ensures that seniors enjoy as many of the things everyone else does while ensuring that their basic needs are met. Respect, safety and quality of life are things everyone should have, and this formalised approach ensures that they're provided.
For more information on this particular subject, check out these website resources that offer lots of helpful insight:
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