Senior-Centered Care

Our unique approach honours seniors’ dignity, sustains their individual identity and choices, and maintains their physical, mental, social, and spiritual wholeness.

Senior-Centered Care is the essence of our service.  Our unique approach honours seniors’ dignity, sustains their individual identity and choices, and maintains their physical, mental, social, and spiritual wholeness.  Our care delivery involves the provision of compassionate care through an enriched, respectful relationship between our Home Care Assistant and the senior. The senior’s spirit, mind, and body are nurtured in this trusting relationship that promotes overall well-being and quality of life.  There are three interrelated components to Senior-Centered Care: Heart, Well-being, and Compassionate Care.

At the “Heart” or centre of Senior-Centered Care is the senior who is a unique individual with unique needs, preferences, beliefs, values, family, relationships, history, and health.  The senior’s values, needs, and preferences guide all aspects of care and service decisions.  

The “Well-being” of the senior relates to the interrelated components associated with staying healthy which include physical, mental, social, and spiritual health.

Physical Well-being – For seniors, physical wellbeing relates strongly to the ability to function as independently and safely as possible when doing day to day activities like bathing, meal preparation, and housekeeping. Support may also be requires after discharge from a hospital or medical facility. We preserve seniors’ physical wellbeing by assisting with activities seniors can no longer do or do safely, helping seniors gain or maintain activities enjoyed by sustaining a level of activeness, strength, flexibility, and balance appropriate to health conditions and choices, and guiding seniors to make the home safer or use safety aides.  

Mental Well-being – Memory, attention, insight, judgement, decision-making, and mood are critical to the overall wellbeing and the ability to function safely in the home. We individualize our care to incorporate strategies to maintain a healthy mind and safety.  Some examples include nutritional care to prevent confusion caused by dehydration, specific types of communication such as reminiscing and storytelling, mental exercises involving puzzles and games, and using environmental monitors such as alarms, gates, and enhanced supervision.

Social Well-being – A social network of people such as friends, family, neighbours and pets are important for day to day functioning and maintaining the quality of life of seniors.  These relationships protect seniors from the harmful effects of stress, loneliness, and isolation. Our Home Care Assistants get to know the seniors as persons and build trustworthy relationships with them which positively impacts the senior’s social well-being.  Families are a very important support network for seniors and understanding the involvement of family members in the life of the senior informs us of how to augment rather than duplicate care. We promote social interaction by connecting seniors to the larger community through companionship, getting involved in activities, and transportation. We accompany seniors on walks, to events, appointments, and outings.   

Spiritual Well-being – Spiritual Well-being includes a sense of peace, purpose, and connection to others including beliefs about the meaning and purpose of life.  Studies indicate that spirituality becomes more important in older adulthood and spiritual wellbeing leads to a better quality of life.  Our Home Care Assistants are respectful of and responsive to senior’s individual preferences, values, and beliefs and their approach to care is one of companioning which means they make each senior “a priority” by taking time to understand the senior, prioritizing the senior’s needs, and setting aside their own assumptions, judgements and tasks in the process of care.

“Compassionate Care” surrounds and supports the senior. The principles of compassionate care include a trusting and engaged relationship; communication between the senior and the Home Care Assistant that seeks understanding without judgement; individualized care based on knowing the uniqueness of the senior, their preferences, their needs, and the urgency of their needs; dignified care conserving the senior’s control, pride, privacy, and feelings of worthiness; knowledgeable care recognizing the benefits of the specific care actions on the physical, mental, social and spiritual wellbeing of the senior; and virtuous care demonstrated by genuineness, love, honesty, openness, tolerance, kindness and acceptance.