Positive Support –
Improving Quality of Life
Part 1
A 2 Day training program for
Disability Support Workers
Positive Support –
Improving Quality of Life
• Person-centredness
• Power: Whose life is it, anyway?
• Positive Support: A Good Life
Person-centredness
• Let’s celebrate our individuality
• Each person’s identity is made of many
elements and characteristics
• Unique attributes, gifts and capacities
• We are all unique
Activity
Person-centredness
• We don’t categorise ourselves by one of
our characteristics
• A disability should not be the basis for
a person’s identity
Person-centredness
Activity
Person-centredness
• We don’t categorise ourselves by one of
our characteristics
• A disability should not be the basis for
a person’s identity
Person-centredness
SOCIAL INCLUSION
• Everybody – with or without disability –
has gifts that can connect them with
someone in their community.
• The role of support work is to identify
those gifts and to enable the
connections to happen.
• This is how relationships flourish in the
community.
Person-centredness
• We may think that some people have
nothing to contribute to society.
• But we need to look more closely and
find the ways each person can make
their own unique contribution, and have
meaningful interactions with others.
Person-centredness
• Labelling a person by a negative
characteristic focuses attention on
their needs.
• Words beginning with in, im, dis, un, de
imply a lack of something, a need, a
fault or some kind of inferiority.
Activity
Person-centredness
• Every person has some gift or capacity
to be of value to others.
• Living a good life depends on whether a
person’s capacities, choices, gifts and
abilities can be expressed.
Person-centredness
Person-centredness
Being excluded means –
•
social isolation
•
unachieved potential
•
lack of life experienced
•
not being loved and valued as a person
•
not having control over your own life
– less likely to lead to having a good life.
Person-centredness
The values that underpin social inclusion are:
• Everyone Is Ready
• Everyone Can Learn
• Everyone Needs Support
• Everyone Can Communicate
• Everyone Can Contribute
• Together We Are Better
Person-centredness
Social inclusion means –
• having typical opportunities for friendship,
learning, shared experiences, fun
• being loved and valued as a person
• having control over your own life
– more likely to lead to having a good life.
Person-centredness
Person-centredness
HUMAN NEEDS
The support relationship is not about doing
something for someone who can’t do it
themself.
It’s more about assisting a person to live
the kind of life they want to live.
Person-centredness
Human Needs –
• sharing ordinary places
• making choices
• developing abilities
• being treated with respect and having a
valued social role
• growing in relationships
Person-centredness
Human Needs –
But these things cannot be achieved inside
the service of the organisation you work in.
We have to make connections with other
people and make things happen out there in
the community.
Person-centredness
NETWORKS - Value of Relationships
• people who live within supportive
relationships are less likely to become ill
or die prematurely
• social relationship also reduces the
likelihood of mental illness
• social relationship contributes to the
wellbeing of people
• social relationship positively influences our
sense of personal control
Person-centredness
Our social networks are what bind
community members together.
We make natural connections with family
members, neighbours and work colleagues,
who introduce us to new people and new
opportunities.
They include us in events they are planning
and keep in touch with us because we
matter to them.
Person-centredness
Each person’s social network is a vital
safeguard against abuse and neglect.
Service providers play a crucial role in
building up and maintaining the social
networks of people with disability.
We need to act in ways which enhance
people’s status, creating new opportunities
and allowing people to take greater control
in their lives.
Person-centredness
Like anyone else, people with a disability
need support to live their own life the way
they want to.
Each person needs different amounts of
support with different things.
Activity
Person-centredness
National Standards for Disability Services
1.
Rights
2.
Participation and Inclusion
3.
Individual Outcomes
4.
Feedback and Complaints
5.
Service Access:
6.
Service Management
Person-centredness
BELONGING TO COMMUNITY
Making connections in our community means
finding out about the kind of life people
want to live and working out what it would
take for them to get it.
Person-centredness
All people need to feel that they belong and
can identify with others.
Connecting with others is closely linked with
quality of life and general well-being.
Person-centredness
We should not assume that our support work
alone fulfils that function.
Think carefully about everything we do, to
ensure we are enhancing the likelihood that
people build and maintain their connections
to community.
Person-centredness
Community Connectedness
• Consider the whole person
• Ensure the person’s own views and
interests are being pursued
• Focus on common interests
• Allow time
• Don’t give up trying
Activity
Person-centredness
How do we get to know the person we are
supporting? By –
•
talking with
•
careful listening
•
asking questions
•
listening for answers
•
being interested
•
being curious
•
paying attention
Person-centredness
“The most basic and powerful way to connect
to another person is to listen. Just Listen.
Perhaps the most important thing we ever
give each other is our attention.”
– Rachel Naomi Remen
Activity
Person-centredness
Knowing the person better –
• take time and build trust
• allow and encourage the person to have a
genuine voice/say
• take a long term view
• set goals, and regularly review the
person’s Individual Support Plan
Activities
Person-centredness
Needs, Hopes and Dreams
• sense of belonging
• feel safe and secure
• health and wellbeing
• make a contribution to others
• sense of purpose
• hopes and dreams
Person-centredness
Family and Service Relationships
?
context of family or social network
?
sense of belonging, safety, security
?
identify areas of control in person’s life
?
medication and the reasons for it
?
Families are often very tired
?
Families may have trouble “letting go”, and
may need to learn to trust Support Workers
and the service provider.
Person-centredness
Family and Service Relationships
 Service, Support Workers and family may
all have a different focus
 We need to work closely with family,
build trust through honest and open
communication
 Work together towards the same goals
 Finding the middle ground between heart
and service will be the key to a
successful relationship.
Person-centredness
Challenges
 Truly listen to and respond to the needs
of the individuals
 Match Support Workers to individuals
 Introduce people in positive ways
 Different attitudes and levels of
experience of Support Workers
 Shortfall in funding for staff training