Standard 1 of 7 · 10 min
Standard 1: The individual
What this standard is about
Standard 1 is about the older person at the centre of their own care: their dignity, their identity, and their right to make choices, including choices a worker might not have made themselves.
Key ideas
- Dignity and respect in every interaction, not only in policy documents.
- Individuality and diversity: background, culture, sexuality, gender identity and life experience all shape what good care looks like.
- Independence: support what a person can do, rather than doing it for them.
- Choice and control, including the choice to decline a service.
- Culturally safe care that respects identity, language and connection to community.
- Dignity of risk: an informed adult can choose an option that carries some risk, and that choice should be respected and documented, not overridden.
- Person-centred communication: plain language, checking understanding, and listening more than directing.
- Supporting the person's own goals and preferences, not a generic routine.
Practical workplace examples
- Asking how someone likes their tea before assuming, even after months of the same routine.
- Offering a shower at a different time instead of insisting on the rostered slot.
- Using a person's correct name and pronouns, and correcting yourself if you get it wrong.
- Explaining an option and the person's right to say no, then respecting the answer.
Video
Video coming soon
A short explainer on what Standard 1 means day to day, using everyday care moments rather than legal language.
Transcript
This video is in production. Read the script below instead — it will become the video's caption and transcript once the video is added.
Standard 1 is about the person in front of you, not a category or a task on a list. Every older person receiving care has their own history, relationships, culture and preferences, and those don't stop mattering because they now need support.
Choice and control matter even when a decision carries some risk. If someone is fully informed and capable of deciding, a worker's role is to support that choice, not quietly override it because it feels safer to staff.
None of this replaces your organisation's policies or a person's individual care plan. It is the everyday habit of asking, listening and respecting the answer.
Scenario
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Try it in practice
Before your next shift, choose one routine task and think of a way to offer the person a genuine choice in how or when it happens.
Reflect
This goes into your downloadable action plan. It is private to you and is not marked.
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