Julie Allen, Max Neill, Neil Woodhead, Stephen Reid, Lori Erwin and Helen Sanderson Person Centred Risk

Person Centred Risk Risk is a part of everyday life for everyone. Every opportunity contains risks – a life without risk is a life without opportunities, without quality, without change. “The greatest hazard in life is to risk nothing. To laugh is to risk appearing to be a fool. To weep is to risk appearing sentimental. But risks must be taken because the greatest hazard in life is to risk nothing. Only a person who risks is free.”

If I had an hour to save the world, I’d spend 55 minutes defining the problem. -Albert Einstein

Governing principle is that people have the right to live their lives to the full as long as that doesn’t stop others from doing the same. Person centred planning approaches identify what is important to a person from his or her perspective and find appropriate solutions. We commend person-centred approaches for everyone.

Dead and happy are incompatible Alive and miserable is unacceptable But

1. Purpose What are we trying to achieve? How can we use this process to enable the person to have choice and control in their life, as a citizen in their community? 2. People Who needs to be involved with the person to achieve this? 3. Process What is the process for thinking about the person and what needs to change in their life. How can we record this? How can we put our actions into practice? 4. Progress How can we review our progress?

What is our purpose? What are we trying to achieve? “Many people hold a different purpose for direct support work, such as ‘keeping people healthy and safe’ or ‘making people happy’ or ‘protecting society from dangerous people’. For us, happiness, health and safety for others are legitimate considerations in how support is designed and delivered; they are not its purpose” John O’Brien and Beth Mount

Who is the person?