Practical guide for carers of older people at home

Quality of life is partly related to the possibilities for people to participate in decisions that affect them, both individually and collectively. Thus, for older people, quality of life is linked to the possibility to express themselves, especially with regard to their living environment, their care plan and their personal activities. Quality of life thus affirms the right to free choice, consent and access to all information concerning the individual. The person is a subject of rights who has the right to express himself at the level of his own person, of the groups in which he participates, of the institution and of society.

The QAVAD project, financed by the ERASMUS+ Programme of the European Union, proposes to focus on the quality of life of older people at home, promoting the necessary support to maintain their autonomy, supporting also the caregivers at home, both family and professionals, as well as the coordination of the actors involved in the care.

Among the products developed within the framework of this project, we have this guide whose main objective is to support carers, both family members and professionals and volunteers, in the care relationships that take place in the home between all the people involved, so that they have a practical tool to help them improve the quality of life of people with support needs and their own quality of life.

The approach of the guide is based on Person-Centred Care, seeking a dignified treatment in the care of elderly people in a situation of dependency, the promotion of their maximum independence and the greatest possible control of their daily lives.