Collecting and disseminating information regarding who the person is can inform appropriate person‑centred care by supporting staff to see the person ‘behind the disease’. Knowledge of significant life events, interests, likes and dislikes
can help to maintain and enhance a sense of self in older people whose world has been altered by the sudden onset of disease. In the case of Emmy, collecting such a personal history could have contributed to interpreting her behaviours as adequate reactions in light of her history as a holocaust survivor, and thus other care strategies aside of sedating her might have been chosen. Collecting and disseminating information regarding who the person is can inform appropriate person‑centred care by supporting staff to see the person ‘behind the disease’. Knowledge of significant life events, interests, likes and dislikes can help to maintain and enhance a sense of self in older people whose world has been altered by the sudden onset of disease . In the case of Emmy, collecting such a personal history could have contributed to interpreting her behaviours as adequate reactions in light of her history as a holocaust survivor, and thus other care strategies aside of sedating her might have been chosen.