What Person-Centered Care Looks Like — and Why It’s Important

Key Highlights: 

• Person-centered care shifts decision-making to individuals, empowering them to define what matters most in their daily lives and fostering greater independence and well-being.
• Elevance Health has embedded this approach across its Medicaid long-term services and supports programs, earning Person-Centered Organization certification after years of training nearly 4,000 associates in person-centered thinking.
• This organizational shift not only improves health outcomes but also cultivates more compassionate, personalized support.

Ten-year-old Wyatt uses a wheelchair to get around and needs support for bathing and dressing. Decisions made by others — without his input— have dictated much of his daily life.

Recently, though, Wyatt was asked some simple but important questions about his care and services: “What does a good day look like for you?” “What makes you happy?” “What would you like to be able to do, or do more of?”

These types of questions shift decision-making to the person receiving care, enabling them to direct that care and giving them more agency and control over their lives. It’s an approach that can be life-changing, as research indicates greater autonomy and self-determination can contribute to improved mental health and well-being, as well as better physical health.

“Modern healthcare leans heavily into physical health and safety, and this is very much the case for people with disabilities, too,” said Leigh Davison, vice president of Medicaid product and specialized populations at Elevance Health. “But it’s clear from the data that to lead a truly good life, we also need to be supported socially and emotionally.”  

How a Person-Centered Approach Becomes an Organizational Mindset

Recognizing the importance of supporting people with disabilities in making their own choices, Elevance Health-affiliated Medicaid plans in 12 states that offer long-term services and supports (LTSS) earned the Person-Centered Organization (PCO) designation in 2024. Elevance Health is the only managed care organization to have received this designation across all of its LTSS plans from The Learning Community for Person Centered Practices, in partnership with Support Development Associates.

Close to 4,000 associates throughout Elevance Health, including newly hired LTSS health plan staff, have been trained in person-centered thinking. Some associates have gone on to become PCT trainers and mentors. Some serve as coaches and leaders, responsible for championing a PCT approach within various Elevance Health-affiliated health plans.

“It’s more than just a training to go through,” said Jamie Dyke, an Elevance Health associate and certified PCT trainer and mentor. “It's a way of engaging with those we support, each other, and ourselves.”

Dyke recalled speaking with a care manager with an Elevance Health-affiliated Medicaid plan who was initially skeptical that her required PCT training would lead to real-world results. But eventually, it became more clear.

“She started using the skills with individuals she supported and started to see improved outcomes and strengthened relationships,” Dyke said. “It’s helped her move from the traditional approach of ‘fixing’ symptoms to the person-centered approach of supporting people to live the lives they want based on what is important to them.”

Why Being a Person-Centered Organization Matters to Elevance Health

The PCO certification reflects a shift that aligns with Elevance Health’s approach to health and its broader purpose of improving the health of humanity.

“Earning this designation represents an evolution in our LTSS and Medicaid service-delivery model that fits with our overall whole-health philosophy,” Davison said. “It’s less medical, more personal in aligning with an individual’s wishes. And it can lead to better health outcomes.”

TaKeisha Woodson, an Elevance Health project leader and certified PCT trainer, said the approach helps teams “see beyond checkboxes” and deliver support that’s compassionate and impactful, ensuring the   individuals being supported remain front and center.

And for Woodson, Dyke and others, person-centered thinking isn’t something they shut off once they leave work. It’s informed or reinforced how they interact with friends and family members as well.

Person-centered thinking has become deeply personal.

“I truly believe that people deserve to be seen, heard, and supported based on what they define as a good life,” Woodson said. “Being able to train others to carry that approach forward is an honor.”