Dementia Care Theory

Theoretical Framework for Dementia Care
Patient-centered care is one of the six important aims identified to redesign the US healthcare system by the 2001 Institute of Medicine (IOM) report, Crossing the Quality Chasm. Various definitions of person-centered care in dementia exist in the literature. The Institute of Medicine (2001) defined patient-centered care as “being respectful of and responsive to individual patient preferences, needs, values, and ensuring that patient guide all clinical values”. However, the concept of person-centered related to dementia is greatly influenced in the United States by Thomas Kitwood, an English scientist who studied and wrote several papers on personhood, person-centered care and dementia starting the mid-1980s

In addition, it is important to note that the theory was based on subjective reports of persons living with dementia and their family members, in-depth observation, and interactions between the care providers and the person with dementia (Penrod, 2007). Subsequent to Kitwood’s interpretation of the meaning of personhood and person-centered care in dementia, several researchers have a similar model. In a recent article, Love & Femia (2015, p. 11) describe four principles of person-centered principles that form the foundation for dementia care practice that are similar to Kitwood’s five domains of person-centered care: (a) the idea that individuals can and do live fully with dementia; (b) quality of life depends not only on the care received but also on the value that others put on their abilities and life; (c) being meaningfully engaged and having purpose are vital to well-being; and (d) respect, dignity, and choice are not only foundational to person-centered care but for basic human