Philosophy of Care

Mercy LIFE – West Philadelphia…

• seeks to foster wholeness and health by supporting participants’ wish to live at home, preserving their dignity, and increasing their choices in day-to-day living.
• is a therapeutic community consisting of participants, staff, families and neighbors, whose focus is improving the quality of each person’s life, whether or not we can physically remove disability or cure illness.
• cares for people such that they find strength and comfort in community, not in isolation. We work together as partners in healing the body and spirit, touching, listening, and being present to each other.
• is a culturally diverse community.
• is committed to valuing and respecting our individual characteristics of age, disability, culture and socioeconomic background, national and regional origin, physical attributes, race, sexual orientation, and religious belief. The vision, strength and quality of our community and work environment are enriched by the blend of characteristics our diversity brings.
• seeks to create an environment that celebrates, embraces, understands, respects and integrates the attributes and needs of our diverse backgrounds. Each participant’s personal wishes, needs and preferences help define their experience.
• seeks to understand their wishes and will work with each participant and family to create a plan of care and establish written advance directives for health care.