Person-Centered Care

Person-Centered Care is the common thread running throughout all of ERH's communities. Driven by a desire to exceed normal caregiving practices, Person-Centered Care provides us with the tools needed to interact with people on a higher level of empathy and understanding.

Perhaps the most vivid example of Person-Centered Care in action can be seen at the nursing care level. The residents of Marjorie P. Lee Care Center and the Deupree Cottages enjoy life much as they always have. They choose when to wake up in the morning and when to go to bed at night, when to eat their meals, when to bathe and get dressed, and what activities to participate in each day. ERH has gone to great lengths to replace the traditionally institutional atmosphere with the creature comforts of home. Our staff has always gone the extra mile to treat residents with respect and loving care, but Person-Centered Care allows us to provide a level of freedom and personal choice previously not practiced in a nursing care environment. And when a person is allowed to make choices, and to approach each day with purpose and meaning, the result is truly remarkable, and is what sets ERH communities apart from the rest.

ERH's change to Person-Centered Care did not happen overnight. We spent years researching, observing, and planning before we began training our staff to implement this major culture change throughout our organization. Our staff uses the philosophy of Person-Centered Care in their interactions with one another, and have learned to think of our workplace as someone's home rather than a nursing care facility. It is a change in mindset, but we have seen so many examples of improvement in our residents' outlook that we know we're heading in the right direction.