Dignity in Care
Harisa Paco - Care Manager Associate
Lynn Wohlers - Care Manager
The A, B, C, and D's of Dignity in Care
What is dignity?
A: Attitude
B: Behavior
C: Compassion
D: Dialogue
Ten dignity do's:
- The state or quality of being worthy of honor or respect (Oxford Dictionary)
- A sense of pride in oneself; self-respect (Merriam-Webster)
- Respect that other people have for you or that you have for yourself (Macmillan Dictionary)
The Dignity Model
Breakout Sessions
What is "Dignity in Care?"
- Have a zero tolerance of all forms of abuse
- Support people with the same respect you would want for yourself or a member of your family
- Treat each person as an individual and respect diversity by offering personalized service
- Enable people to maintain the maximum possible level of independence, choice and control
- Listen and support people to express their needs and wants
- Respect people’s right to privacy
- Ensure people feel able to complain without fear of retribution
- Engage with family members and carers as care partners
- Assist people to maintain confidence and a positive self esteem
- The kind of care, in any setting, which supports and promotes, and does not undermine, a person's self-respect (Canterbury-Care)
- How people feel, think and behave in relation to the value of themselves and others. To treat someone with dignity is to treat them in a way that is respectful of them and as valued individuals. When dignity is present, people feel in control, valued, confident, comfortable and able to make decisions for themselves (SA Health)
- Groups of 5 - 6
- Each group should have at least 1 CM, 1 CG, and 1 admin
- Discuss assigned question
- Be prepared to share what you discussed
Three components:
- Illness related concerns
- The persons perspective and practices
- Interactions with others
Read your question and tell us what your group discussed?
Take aways?
Illness related concerns
The persons perspective and practices
When people felt their dignity was not being respected:
- Physical distress
- Psychological distress
- Cognitive acuity
- Functional capacity
- Continued sense of self
- Role preservation
- Pride
- Hope
- Autonomy/control
- Generativity/legacy
- Acceptance
- Resilience
Interactions with others
Dignity and Pain
"People will forget what you said. People will forget what you did. But people will never forget how you made them feel."
-Maya Angelou
- Live in the moment
- Maintain routine
- Find spiritual comfort
- Privacy boundaries
- Social support
- Care tenor
- Burden to others
- Aftermath concerns
- Elders are more likely to have pain - and often cannot communicate it adequately
- Pain changes your personality, it can take your life away
- Your body becomes unreliable, even unrecognizable
- Dependence increases as autonomy decreases
- Elders may expect that pain is unavoidable
- They may not say anything, or may not be able to express pain
- Then, their pain may be undertreated
- Untreated pain can threaten dignity
- Validating a client's pain can preserve dignity
- "Being with" a client in pain can enhance dignity
- Feeling neglected or ignored while receiving care
- Being made to feel worthless or a nuisance
- Being treated more as a object than a person
- Feeling their privacy was not being respected during intimate care
- A disrespectful attitude from staff or being addressed in ways they find disrespectful
- Generally being rushed and not listened to
- Having to eat with their fingers rather than being helped to eat with a knife and fork
How to preserve dignity:
- Affirm the person's value
- View people apart from their disease
- Safeguard the person's privacy
- Address pain and discomfort
- Deal with fears and anxieties
- Help people maintain a feeling of control and independence
- Offer or bolster social support