| 188 3. (Un)met expectations of social care Informal caregivers often held expectations of what social care could offer them. However, often, these expectations were not met, resulting in poor perception of the quality of social care services, lack of trust and increased carer burden. The challenges of person-centred care Informal caregivers value person-centred care for the person living with dementia. They hoped that if the social care worker was able to connect with the person living with dementia and build good rapport, this would enable social care workers to address their needs. However, more often this was not the case, and informal caregivers felt there was a lack of the provision of personcentred care. This proved stressful for informal caregivers and contributed to carer burden. However, in contrast, social care workers reported ways in which they tried to provide person-centred care, including actively listening to the person living with dementia and getting to know their needs and wishes. They emphasized that the focus was not solely on completing a set of tasks but that the person they provided care to mattered. So, I think that the most important thing is listening and letting them know that I’m not here to do everything for you, unless that’s what you want. I’m here literally to be with you and support you, so I will do as much or as little as a person wants. (care worker 3) Communication was key in providing person-centred care Informal caregivers felt that social care workers did not always understand that communicating with someone with dementia required a certain level of understanding and communication skills. However, some social care workers indicated adapting their communication as appropriate. Non-verbal communication and body language of both the social care worker and the person living with dementia were deemed essential. If social care workers possessed interpersonal skills such as patience, empathy, and flexibility, it was easier to connect with the person living with dementia. Informal caregivers described person-centred care as particularly difficult to achieve when the person living with dementia was from an ethnic minority or did not speak English. They felt care workers lacked culturally relevant experience
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MTk4NDMw