All voices matter: Person-centred care, health inequalities and healthcare professionals

From a societal perspective, Spain is a clear example of a family-based model of the organisation of care where the Welfare State plays a limited role in care policies in old age. Yet, social changes are making evident the step back families are taking in relation to caring for elderly people. Then, the risk of increasing inequalities in old age grows as the push for private provision of care escalates in the public agenda. The need for better healthcare that fights inequalities in old age runs in parallel to the need of person-centred care approaches in healthcare.

Person-centred care (PCC) is increasingly being recognised as the most appropriate model for health and social care provision in old age. When put into relation with home-based health care provision and with housing-with-care policies, PCC is extremely difficult to succeed if there is no recognition and coordination between health services, social services, residential-settings, families and older people being taken care of. The input and implication of all the actors involved in the construction of PCC options is crucial, thus their discourses on ageing and care are an important source on how to better approach this complex coordination and setup.

This paper draws on the results of focus groups carried out in San Sebastian, Spain, in 2011 with social workers carrying out home-based, face-to-face interviews with elderly people who request public, home-delivered care services. Being the professionals having the closest contact with elderly people’s daily life in their homes, their discourses and input can inform the design of innovative policy recommendations on PCC options that are both inclusive of every person’s uniqueness and contributing to fight inequalities in old age.