Project aims
- Making the services more personal, responsive and respectful of people’s dignity
- Making the services easier to access and giving better support to people to use them
- Giving the people who run services a better understanding of what the users want
- Using the expert view of patients as a basis for training staff
The aim of greater respect for users’ dignity was particularly important. This was to be addressed in a number of ways. As well as a more personalised approach, people would be given as much choice and control as possible. They would be listened to with care and supported to express their wishes. And they’d be helped to feel confident and maintain their self-esteem.
If these aims could be achieved, we believed the benefits would be twofold for older people who needed the services. For one thing, the quality of treatment and care would improve. But people would also experience less stress and anxiety about using the services – which would be better for their overall well-being and make them less likely to miss appointments.
