CCAL is a non-profit national consumer advocacy and education organization whose mission is to raise awareness about and advocate for the widespread implementation of person-centered living principles, policies, and practices in home and community-based (HCB) supports and services for elders and individuals with disabilities living at home, in the community or in assisted living.
Our Vision: To Connect-Communicate-Collaborate by serving as a national convener and facilitator of collaborative efforts that foster and advance the exchange of ideas and issues related to person-centered living among HCBS consumers, families, service and support providers and other stakeholders.
CCAL’s Principles of Person-Centered Living include -
- Consumers are provided choice, privacy, dignity, respect, independence, and autonomy.
- Consumers have the right to determine their HCB services and support needs, decide how best to have those needs met, and to be provided a means to give feedback about the quality and nature of the services and supports.
- A person-centered culture is nurturing, empowering, and respectful, and optimizes the well-being of consumers as well as the family and extended caregiving services and support network.
Our Values:
- A philosophy of “Nothing about me without me” so that consumer needs, interests and preferences direct and inform policy making, practices, and research.
- That greater good can be accomplished through collaborative efforts – finding common ground that is reasonable and realistic.
- That integrity, transparency, and diversity of people and perspectives are essential to connect, communicate, and collaborate.
Goals:
- To strengthen the consumer’s voice and involvement in advocacy efforts.
- To advocate for linking research, policy and practice in ways that will advance person-centered living outcomes.
- To convene and facilitate collaborative efforts for idea and issue exchanges among consumers, families, service and support providers, and other stakeholder groups.
- To identify needs and gaps in policy, practices, and research and work to collaboratively develop viable solutions to advance person-centered living in all aging and disability services and supports.
- To serve as a resource of educational materials for consumers, families, providers, and other stakeholders.
- To monitor and respond to national issues that affect consumers’ choices and rights.
- To ensure that the organization is financially secure, well managed and successful in achieving its annual goals.
Please keep me informed of any efforts in the San Diego area. Presently I am writing a book on person centered care and the theory of rementia. I will be quoting from the White Paper and using Kitwood’s “Dementia Reconsidered” as a primary influence. I have been a licensed skilled administrator since 1996 and recently transformed engagement programming at an assisted living. Caring for those with dementia is my passion.