Person-Centered Care Supports Residents’ Rights

The Federal Nursing Home Reform Law requires nursing homes to “promote and protect the rights of each resident” and stresses individual dignity and self-determination.

Person-Centered Care, as defined by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, is “to focus on the resident as the locus of control and support the resident in making their own choices and having control over their lives.” (CMS §483.5)

Person-centered practices help us resolve challenges related to residents’ rights.

In a traditional medical model, staff “control” what happens.

Residents may choose what to wear and what to eat, for example, but are often “not allowed” to do things that staff think they should not do or determine may not be in the resident’s best interest.

Adults, including ourselves, don’t always make wise choices.

We must always remember to consider the right of each resident to make choices that we don’t agree with.

All residents are entitled to make their own decisions.

Person-centered care encourages all care partners to focus on resident rights as they discuss choices and work together to determine the course of action that keeps the resident “in charge.”

If you or a loved one were moving into a nursing home, wouldn’t YOU want to be able to make your own decisions about what is important to you?

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