Person-centred care is an approach to aged care that emphasises the importance of partnership between older people and providers during care planning, delivery and management. A crucial aspect of person-centred care is respecting and responding to older people’s needs, values and preferences (ACQSC 2026).

What is Person-Centred Care?

Person-centred care comprises:

Partnering with older people
Acknowledging each older person’s individuality and respecting their knowledge about their own care
Allowing older people to use their life experiences and expertise to influence care decisions at individual, service and organisation levels
Treating older people as individuals rather than just conditions to be managed
Finding out what is important to older people and their supporters, e.g., family members and carers
Establishing trust and mutual respect
Sharing decisions with older people
Treating older people with dignity, respect and compassion
Providing care that suits each older person’s needs and helps them achieve their goals
Supporting older people to understand their own health
Coordinating care between providers and ensuring continuity of care.

(ACQSC 2026; ACSQHC 2026)

What Does it Mean to Deliver Aged Care in a Person-Centred Way?

The older person is at the centre of the care they are receiving and is supported to make decisions about their life.
The older person’s life experiences, age, gender, culture, heritage, language, beliefs and identity are all taken into account in the delivery of care.
The services provided are flexible and tailored to the older person’s preferences and priorities.
Care is strengths-based, meaning the focus is on what the older person can do, rather than what they need help with. The individual is the expert on their own life.
The individual’s supporters work in partnership with their provider.

(NSW Health 2022)

Overall, the goal of person-centred care is to enable the older person to establish and maintain control over their life (NSW Health 2022).

Person-Centred Care Under the Strengthened Aged Care Quality Standards

Standard 1: The Individual under the Strengthened Aged Care Quality Standards emphasises the importance of person-centred care. Outcome 1.1: Person-centred care advises registered aged care providers to:

Ensure older people feel safe, welcome, supported and understood
Establish strategies for:
- Assessing an older person’s background, culture, diversity, beliefs and life experiences and using these factors to inform their aged care services
- Recognising and understanding older people’s individual communication needs and preferences
- Recording that an older person identifies as an Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander person
- Providing care for older people with specific needs and diverse backgrounds, including older people living with dementia and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people
- Providing culturally safe, trauma-aware and healing-informed care
- Supporting older people to develop and maintain social connections, including supporting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to connect with their communities, cultures and Country
- Improving inclusion and diversity
Recognise and respect the rights and autonomy of older people, including their right to express their sexuality and gender and experience intimacy
Ensure staff maintain a professional, trusting relationship with older people, working with them to provide aged care services.

(DoHDA 2025)

For more information on these aspects of person-centred care, see the following Ausmed Articles:

The Benefits of Person-Centred Care

Person-centred care has numerous benefits, including:

Increased care satisfaction
Increased quality of life
Improved emotional state
Improved physical function
Improved trust
Reduced anxiety
Reduced number of falls

(ACSQHC 2026; ARIIA 2023; ARIIA 2022; DoH 2024)

Viewing Older People as Individuals

An important part of delivering person-centred care is gaining an understanding of the person as an individual ‘with a past, present and future’ and acknowledging their strengths and qualities (ARIIA 2022).

It’s important to consider factors such as the individual’s culture, language, age, gender, life experiences and preferences (CareSearch 2026).

Practical Ways to Implement Person-Centred Care

Examples of person-centred care in everyday practice when interacting with older people include:

Smiling and introducing yourself
Wearing a name tag
Explaining your role
Asking permission before providing care or assistance
Respecting their privacy
Giving them your full attention when interacting with them
Speaking to them at eye level
Taking the time to ask them how they are feeling (both physically and mentally)
Remembering that people have individual lives outside of the care environment
Treating them as equal participants in their care
Listening to them
Taking into consideration the knowledge they have about their own health
Listening to their supporters
Keeping in mind that care environments are often unfamiliar and frightening for individuals and their supporters, and providing care accordingly
Understanding that they may feel lonely or isolated
Providing them with all the necessary information to make informed decisions about their care
Taking time to learn about their interests and hobbies, and supporting them in continuing to participate in them.

(DoH 2024; CareSearch 2026; ARIIA 2022)

Conclusion

Person-centred care is a holistic and genuine approach that supports people in leading the lives they want. How aged care workers respond to older people’s health issues, vulnerabilities, personalities and situations can have a significant, and often long-lasting, impact on their health and wellbeing. Person-centred care has also been shown to improve health outcomes and increase aged care workers’ job satisfaction.