The Big Picture
Client-centred care means treating each client as a unique person. Communication and care should preserve dignity, support independence, fit the individual, respect preferences, protect privacy, and promote safety.
Support work should help protect the client’s quality of life. Some clients live with serious illness, disability, personal issues, or other challenges. They might depend on the support they receive for survival and a better quality of life ⓘ.
The acronym DIPPS helps you remember six important principles. These principles are dignity, independence, individualized care, preferences, privacy, and safety.
Look for Nova Scotia CCA Notes throughout this page for current provincial guidance.
Quick tip: Tap, click, or press Enter on any term with a dotted underline and an ⓘ icon to see its plain-English definition.
Start Here If You’re Overwhelmed
Focus on these core ideas:
- Client-centred care places the individual client at the centre of communication and care.
- DIPPS stands for dignity, independence, individualized care, preferences, privacy, and safety.
- Care should reflect the client’s unique needs and wishes.
- Clients should do what they are able to do for themselves.
- Support workers should treat clients with kindness, honesty, sensitivity, discretion, respect, and understanding.
- Illness or disability might make the six DIPPS needs harder to meet.
Jump to:
Course Notes: Key Ideas You Need to Know
What Client-Centred Care Means
Client-centred care means showing concern for the client’s dignity, independence, individualized care, preferences, privacy, and safety at all times. This concern also extends to the client’s family.
Client-centred care is also called compassionate care or person-centred care. These terms describe the same main approach.
Every client is different. Communication and care should reflect the needs of that individual client.
Nova Scotia CCA Note
Sorrentino’s Canadian Textbook for the Support Worker, 5th Edition uses DIPPS to organize six principles of client-centred care. Nova Scotia’s CCA Program describes the same general approach through a broader person-centred philosophy. This philosophy places the person and their family at the centre of the care and services provided.
In Nova Scotia, person-centred care also recognizes each person’s unique values, diverse background, personal preferences, equal right to dignity and respect, and right to participate fully in their environment.
Why this matters in Nova Scotia: DIPPS remains a useful memory aid, but Nova Scotia CCA education may also describe person-centred care through partnership, participation, personal values, background, preferences, and family involvement.
Official source: Background – Continuing Care Assistant Program
Last checked: August 2, 2026
The Goal of Support Work
The goal of support work is to provide true client-centred care. Support workers show this approach through their words, actions, and treatment of each client.
True caring includes:
- kindness
- honesty
- sensitivity
- comfort
- discretion ⓘ
- respect
- understanding
Caring means showing concern for the dignity, independence, preferences, privacy, and safety of clients and their families. True caring requires honesty, sensitivity, comfort, discretion, and respect.
Remember the Six DIPPS Principles
DIPPS is an acronym. Each letter represents one principle of client-centred care.
Dignity
Dignity means feeling worthy, valued, and respected.
Clients need support that protects this feeling. A person who depends on others for personal care might worry about losing dignity.
Independence
Independence means allowing clients to do what they are able to do for themselves.
Support should not automatically remove tasks that the client remains able to perform. The client’s abilities and needs guide the support.
Individualized Care
Individualized care means personalizing care for each client.
No two people are identical. Clients do not all have the same needs. Care should fit the individual rather than follow one identical approach for every client.
Preferences
Preferences are the client’s choices about how they want things done.
Clients need opportunities to:
- make choices
- express their wishes
- explain how they prefer to receive care
A client who depends on others might feel less free to express these wishes. Client-centred care keeps the client’s voice important.
Privacy
Privacy means treating the client’s body and personal affairs with respect.
Clients need their bodies and personal affairs protected from public view. Privacy includes more than physical care. It also includes the client’s personal matters.
Privacy might become harder to maintain in shared living environments. For example, a person living in long-term care ⓘ might share a room and have fewer private moments.
Safety
Safety means protecting clients from harm and reducing hazards in their environment as much as possible.
Clients also need to feel secure about the care they receive. A person living with illness or disability might worry about completing an activity safely, such as reaching the bathroom without falling.
Why DIPPS Needs Extra Attention
When people are well and able-bodied, they often take the six DIPPS needs for granted.
Serious illness or disability might make these needs more difficult to meet. A client might depend on others for personal care, have limited choices, share a room, or follow schedules set by a care setting.
For example, people living in long-term care might:
- eat the food provided
- socialize at arranged times
- share a room
- have fewer private moments
- worry about moving safely
These situations show why support workers need to keep all six DIPPS principles in mind.
Each Client Has Different Needs
Clients living with illness or disability do not all need the same support.
Most clients have at least some needs connected to DIPPS. The exact needs differ from one person to another. Support workers should keep care individualized rather than assuming every client wants or needs the same things.
Client-Centred Care During Procedures
The principles of client-centred care apply while performing procedures with clients.
The support worker should continue to protect:
- dignity
- independence
- individualized care
- preferences
- privacy
- safety
Client-centred care is not a separate task. It shapes how communication and care take place.
Exam Clue Words
- At all times: Concern for DIPPS applies throughout communication and care, not only during personal care.
- Individualized: Care should fit the specific client rather than follow one identical approach for everyone.
- Each client: The worker considers the needs and wishes of the individual person.
- As hazard free as possible: Safety includes reducing environmental hazards as much as possible.
Fast Review
Client-centred care focuses on the individual client. Use DIPPS to remember its six principles.
- DIPPS stands for dignity, independence, individualized care, preferences, privacy, and safety.
- Dignity means feeling worthy, valued, and respected.
- Independence means clients do what they are able to do for themselves.
- Individualized care is personalized because no two clients are identical.
- Preferences include making choices and explaining how care should take place.
- Privacy protects the client’s body and personal affairs from public view.
- Safety includes reducing hazards and helping the client feel secure about care.
- Client-centred care is also called compassionate care or person-centred care.
- True caring includes honesty, sensitivity, comfort, discretion, respect, kindness, and understanding.
- Illness or disability might make DIPPS needs harder to meet.
- Clients do not all have the same needs.
- DIPPS should guide communication, care, and procedures with clients.
Final Pep Talk
DIPPS gives you one clear way to organize six connected ideas. Review what each letter means, then focus on how each principle protects the individual client.