Recommendations to Deliver Person-Centered Long-Term Care for Persons Living With Dementia

May 25, 2021

IMPACT member Kimberly Van Haitsma, PhD, Executive Committee, Implementation Core, is among authors of an article discussing the state of research on workforce development in dementia care. The authors provide recommendations for future policies and research to improve long-term person-centered care (PCC) for people living with dementia.

Abstract

Person-centered care (PCC) is the standard for the delivery of long-term services and supports (LTSS). In this article, we summarize the state of the science on meaningful outcomes and workforce development and discuss what is needed to ensure that person-centered LTSS becomes a universal reality. These 2 themes are intimately related: the dementia care workforce’s capacity cannot be improved until care processes and outcomes that are significant to PCC are explicated. The LTSS workforce needs training in PCC as well as pragmatic measures to assess the quality of the care they provide. We conclude with several recommendations for future policy and practice-oriented workforce research.