What are Personal Care Plans?

When our parents need long-term care, whether care is delivered in their own home or a care home, one of the most important tools to ensure that it is person-centred is the care plan.

A personal care plan tells carers about your parent and sets out the key things your parent does and does not like and also specifies the little things which can make a big difference

Setting out a personal care plan can be helpful if you are getting carers into your parent’s home, or if they are going into a care home. This latter case if possibly even more important, as they are leaving the familiar surroundings of their own home behind

Homecare and care home providers will put together a care plan, but this is likely to focus on the things that are important for your parent such as a nutritional diet, personal care and to maintain independence

Family members do not always think that they can make a care plan for their parent, but are probably better placed than anyone to include the things that are important to the older person

Top tips for putting together personal information for the care plan

• Talk to your parent and most importantly, listen carefully to what they say (watch carefully for any clues in their tone, body language, or for information they leave out)
• Ask them what is more important to them than anything else. For example, they may want to remain living in their own home, or to live near you
• Ask what else is important to them. They may well need prompting from you, for example, you may want to remind them that animalsmean a great deal to them, or that they prefer a bath to a shower
• Reminisce about their past and see what important issues arise that will help you build a bigger picture about what matters to them
• If you feel you are too close to the situation, you may want to ask someone else to help you, such as an occupational therapist to chat to them and find out more about the things that really matter to them

What sort of thing should you consider in a personal care plan?

Don’t assume you know the answers. Check all the details

• Start with the obvious things, like what toiletries they prefer and what they dislike, whether they like to have their clothing co-coordinated, are they neat or untidy?
• List key medication requirements and likes to take their tablets the best
• Do they have a routine, e.g. coffee, tea. a glass of wine at a certain time of day?
• Do they have a pet? If so, how will they manage and how can a care home accommodate it?
• Make a photo album/life story book for you and others to look through with your parent. This is great for visitors and care staff alike to use to help your parent talk about the past and remember some of their happiest moments
• What specific mementos are important? They may not be the ones you would think. Do not throw bits and pieces away which you consider unimportant, but which your parent may value highly
• If they are a care home, remind staff not to keep referring to the home as ‘their home’, as invariably, it will not be how your parent views it, as they will think about their actual own home as ‘home’
• Use technology. There is a services called Mindings, which enables you to send personal captioned photos, text messages, calendar reminders, social media content and much more to a digital screen in your parent’s home, or care home, instantly from your mobile phone. They can access this on a digital photo frame, or iPad and this keeps them in contact with you and the wider family

Making a personal care plan for your parent is worth the time and effort. It can make a real difference to their levels of happiness and reduce their stress level

You can take advantage of Relative Matters’ services HERE

Chris Moon-Willems is a published author, qualified and registered social worker and owner of Relative Matters, an elderly care consultancy. She is a respected voice for older people and those responsible for their welfare, based on her extensive social care and NHS experience and personal experience of caring for her elderly parents. Having been approached by a publisher, Chris wrote her book, Relative Matters-The essential guide to finding your way around the care system for older people, which is currently available on Amazon. Chris has appeared on TV, been interviewed on national and local radio and is an accomplished public speaker. Find out more about Chris by visiting her website www.relativematters.org