Person-centred care: advice for non-executive board members

House of Care

Which of the five ‘Must Do With Me’ principles does this relate to? 

The House of Care helps people be more involved in decisions about their care and to identify what matters most to them. It also helps people to identify the resources within their communities which can support them in achieving their goals. Local evaluation and experience suggests it improves public and practitioner satisfaction, develops meaningful person-centred quality improvements, and enhances system transformation.

The House of Care is helping to build a shared understanding of the critical success factors required to turn the rhetoric of health and social care, and primary care policies, into every day implementation. It does this through practitioner training which develops a person-centred ethos while building skills and leadership, underpinned by supported self management principles. It strengthens patient and staff health literacy capabilities, and builds knowledge of, and relationships with local community assets and resources.

Scotland’s House of Care programme is a collaboration between the ALLIANCE, six partnership areas across Scotland (Lothian/Thistle Foundation, Greater Glasgow & Clyde, Tayside, Lanarkshire, Ayrshire & Arran, and Grampian), the Scottish Government, and year of Care Partnerships. Valuable support has been received by British Heart Foundation. It also has close connections with the Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP).

It has built on over a decade of experience in general practice of the practical implementation of collaborative care and support planning for people living with one or more long-term condition. It helps people be more involved in decisions about their care and identify what matters most to them.

The House of Care seeks to address health care inequalities and support public health aims. It does this by preparing people through information gathering and sharing prior to a collaborative conversation involving goal setting and action planning. This promotes empathy, enablement and an active role for people and their carers.

Important information is gathered about individual support needs. This information can be aggregated at regional, locality and GP Cluster level to inform the provision of self management support (‘More than Medicine’) in local communities, and to help realise enhanced public health.