Introduction
Many advancements were introduced with the development of the healthcare field, which contributed to improving the quality of services and assistance provided. One of the most critical transformations has been focusing on patients, not only as recipients of care but also as an interested party who can make a valuable contribution to treatment. Therefore, this innovation played a role in forming person-centered assessments in mental health and adult nursing. Research in this healthcare field helps to determine the need to include person-centered assessment in providing care to patients and awareness of intrinsic and extrinsic factors that impact care choices and engagement.
Theories and Processes of Person-Centered Assessment
First, it is necessary to critically assess theories and processes underpinning person-centered assessment in mental health and adult nursing. Current research pays great attention to the importance of person-centered assessment when choosing treatment. Thus, it is stated that “a person-centered approach requires consideration of the person’s social and community connections and of the cultural milieu that helps define their identity” (Boardman & Dave, 2020, p. 67).
The Patient-Centered Approach
One of the most influential theories within the framework of the topic under discussion is the approach of Thomas Kitwood, the founder of the patient-centered approach. Research by Heerema (2021) underlines that this patient care policy is valuable because it helps to understand the behavior and emotions a patient may experience and how they can be dealt with to achieve more significant outcomes. Person-centered assessment assists in evaluating individuals’ basic needs and needs through behavior.
Brendan McCormack and Tanya McCance contributed to the study of person-centered nursing. The researchers provided a full and detailed explanation and theoretical justification of the importance of this approach in healthcare. Additionally, McCormack and McCance (2011) pointed out that the primary goal of person-centered nursing is humanizing the health and social care experience. In addition, it was noted that this process should include such aspects as “working with patient’s beliefs and values, engagement, having a sympathetic presence, sharing decision-making, and providing for physical needs” (McCormack & McCance, 2011, p. 5). The accounting and use of this knowledge are critical in developing and conducting the person-centered assessment.
Nursing process evaluation is one of the most critical procedures in the person-centered approach. First, this is because nurses constantly interact with patients, and their main task is to provide assistance and awareness of the psychological state of patients. The evaluation of the activities of these specialists is carried out based on collecting data on the outcomes of medical services received. At the same time, the involvement of patients plays an equally important role in this process. These healthcare service recipients can provide valuable feedback on the work of nurses and identify the positive and negative aspects of their activities.
The Biopsychosocial Model of Care
The following theoretical approach to be considered when discussing person-centered assessment becomes the biopsychosocial model of care, each providing a better understanding of the concept under study. This may focus on three main factors that shape how the disease affects the patient’s physical, psychological, and social well-being (Megan, 2021). This data can also be used when considering evidence-based practice (EBP) and value-based assessment. The study by Sokol (2021) underlined that the latter helps revise practices and policies for providing certain services based on information received from individuals. EBP, in turn, allows specialists to determine the most effective ways of working with patients and methods that will allow them to assess the physical and psychological condition of patients.
Complex Care Assessment and Planning
Assessment and analysis of relevant research in mental health and adult nursing contribute to understanding the care assessment and planning process. In this case, evidence-based nursing interventions are one of the leading aspects. This is due to the fact that these measures are based on the evidence base of scientific research, which is the basis for decision-making in the treatment of patients (Ackley et al., 2019). These interventions will contribute to obtaining the most productive results, as they will be selected relative to verified information. Furthermore, relying on scientific data contributes to the justification of the action plan. This aspect is essential for healthcare providers and patients who need to be aware of their treatment.
An assessment also requires justification of the process and tools included in the treatment process. This action can be confirmed by two aspects: the evidence of various studies and the personal needs of individuals. The latter is valuable because it ensures compliance with patient-centered assessment and care. The multi-disciplinary team (MDT) collection becomes a tracking part of providing patient care. This initiative “brings together a group of healthcare professionals from different fields to determine patients’ treatment plans” (Taberna et al., 2020, p. 1). This process provides an opportunity to look at the patient’s health problem through several lenses and perspectives that will assist in making the most effective treatment plan.
Evaluation of Intrinsic and Extrinsic Factors
When making care choices and engaging in mental health and adult nursing, an assessment of intrinsic and extrinsic factors is particularly necessary. These aspects include evaluating a holistic approach, unconscious bias, ethnocentricity, service needs and individual needs, and law and ethics. Conducting a study of the influence of these factors on the process of providing medical care contributes to a limited possibility of deterioration of treatment results and an increase in person-centered assessment and care.
Holistic Approach
Evaluation of a holistic approach is one of the first factors to be considered. It is a consideration not only of physiological and mental symptoms in the provision of health services but also of the individual as a whole. In other words, this indicator is responsible for ensuring that the behavior and mental state are taken into account, which has a significant impact on the success of medical care. This internal factor allows specialists to get the complete picture when conducting a patient-centered assessment to identify the most effective methods of treatment.
Unconscious Bias
Evaluation of unconscious bias and ethnocentricity is of no minor importance when conducting the person-centered assessment. The concept is defined as “associations or attitudes that reflexively alter our perceptions, thereby affecting behavior, interactions, and decision-making” (Marcelin et al., 2019, p. 63). Bias has similar features to ethnocentricity, which believes that one race may initially be better than the rest.
In the absence of measures to limit this factor, it can greatly affect the patient-centered assessment process. This is because it can interfere with the most unbiased and objective assessment of the psychological and mental state of the patient. Moreover, it can affect the perception of patients by medical professionals and the severity of the symptoms they experience.
Service and Individual Needs
Other external and internal factors that have value are service needs and individual needs. When providing patient-centered care, medical professionals should take into account the needs and preferences of individuals in the decision-making process. In addition, the involvement of patients in this process also contributes to increasing their involvement in the treatment process and the development of literature in this area (Muscat et al., 2021) regarding service needs, which implies gaining an understanding of how the chosen treatment can contribute to the general prevention of mental illness and the determination of the most effective treatment methods.
Legal and Ethical Aspects
Law and ethics are factors that largely determine such aspects as the activities of nurses in relation to patients. At the moment, there are a large number of legislative measures that emphasize specific aspects that health professionals can and cannot do. These initiatives influence the choice of treatment, its tools, and procedures. The ethical factor, in turn, implies compliance with moral norms when interacting with patients and evaluating care (Doherty, 2020). This aspect emphasizes the need to consider patients not as recipients of treatment but as individuals with unique rights, which corresponds to patient-centered care.
Conclusion
In conclusion, an assessment approach that focuses on the person who is receiving medical care contributes to making more productive decisions in healthcare. This is because it includes taking into account the personal needs of patients, which increases the quality of services provided and the level of involvement of individuals. In this process, it is also important to understand the procedures that are included in the person-care assessment, such as the analysis of intrinsic and extrinsic factors and the justification for the use of certain tools.
References
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Marcelin, J. R., Siraj, D. S., Victor, R., Kotadia, S., & Maldonado, Y. A. (2019). The impact of unconscious bias in healthcare: how to recognize and mitigate it. The Journal of Infectious Diseases, 220(2), 62-73. Web.
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