1. Positive Support – Improving Quality of Life Part 1
A 2 Day training program for
Disability Support Workers
This training program was compiled in 2013 by Jeanette Plowman from Community Living Association Inc,
Princess Royal Drive, Albany WA 6330, Phone:
And was funded by: Government of Western Australia, Disability Services Commission, National Disability Services WA.
Housekeeping.

2. Positive Support – Improving Quality of Life
Person-centredness
Power: Whose life is it, anyway?
Positive Support: A Good Life
Over the next two days, we will be looking into these three areas – person-centredness, power, and positive support – a good life.

3. 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
Activity - Uniqueness

4. Person-centredness
We don’t categorise ourselves by one of our characteristics
A disability should not be the basis for a person’s identity
Just as most people don’t focus on one part of their identity to categorise themselves, a person with a disability does not usually want to use their disability as their only basis for their identity. They are also a brother or sister, son or daughter, and have their own interests, values, likes and dislikes.

5. Person-centredness Activity
Supporting a person with a disability is about getting to know the whole person, not only their particular disability.
We all have many layers to our lives.
Activity — Layers of Life
Identify and label the different layers of YOUR life, with the most important ones towards the centre.
Activity

6. Person-centredness
We don’t categorise ourselves by one of our characteristics
A disability should not be the basis for a person’s identity

7. 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.
Read slide.
We need to be continually focused on building relationships with and between all the people we work with in the community. We do this by using qualities such as respect and honesty, and appreciating our differences.

8. 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.

9. 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
Labelling a person by a negative characteristic focuses attention on their needs.
These labels often blind us to the capacities of people, and we push them to the outside of the community.
Words beginning with in, im, dis, un, de imply a lack of something, a need, a fault or some kind of inferiority.
Activity — Labelling

10. 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.
Read slide.
When we allow this to happen, the person will be valued. They will feel powerful and well-connection to the people around them; and the community around the person will be more powerful because of the contribution the person is making.

11. Person-centredness
The way people with disability have been treated in history shows us how society can devalue groups of people who are different. When people are devalued by society they are more likely to be negatively labelled or ‘pigeon-holed’. They may experience rejection and be deprived of other positive experiences.

12. 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.
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
– and is less likely to lead to having a good life.

13. 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
The values that underpin social inclusion are:
Everyone Is Ready – None of us has to pass a test or meet a set of criteria before we can be included.
Everyone Can Learn – As human beings we all grow and change and make mistakes: and we are all capable of learning.
Everyone Needs Support - Sometimes some of us need more support than others.
Everyone Can Communicate – Not using words doesn’t mean we don’t have anything to say.
Everyone Can Contribute – We need to recognise, encourage and value each person’s contributions - including our own.
Together We Are Better – We are not dreaming of a world where everyone is like us - difference is our most important feature.

14. 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.

15. Person-centredness
A socially inclusive society is defined as one where all people feel valued, their differences are respected, and their basic needs are met so they can live in dignity.

16. 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.

17. Person-centredness Human Needs – sharing ordinary places
making choices
developing abilities
being treated with respect and having a valued social role
growing in relationships
John O’Brien sums up social human needs as –
sharing ordinary places
making choices
developing abilities
being treated with respect and having a valued social role
growing in relationships
These five areas are what make life worth living – for everyone.
Support services need to concentrate on these five areas which will be helping people to have a better quality of life.

18. 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.
After slide, revisit previous slide.
So it’s the role of Support Workers to make these things happen out in the community, not just within the realm of the agency and its services.

19. 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
Read slide.
People who have few advocates in their lives need paid Support Workers to assist them to find meaningful relationships.
It is vital that workers who are paid to support people with disabilities, focus on assisting people to develop unpaid, freely given relationships in their lives.

20. 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.

21. 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.

22. 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
Activity — Support Networks

23. 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
At this point, we will look at the National Standards for Disability Services (2013)
Rights: The service promotes individual rights to freedom of expression, self-determination and decision-making and actively prevents abuse, harm, neglect and violence.
Participation and Inclusion: The service works with individuals and families, friends and carers to promote opportunities for meaningful participation and active inclusion in society.
Individual Outcomes: Services and supports are assessed, planned, delivered and reviewed to build on individual strengths and enable individuals to reach their goals.
Feedback and Complaints: Regular feedback is sought and used to inform individual and organisation-wide service reviews and improvement.
Service Access: The service manages access, commencement and leaving a service in a transparent, fair, equal and responsive way.
Service Management: The service has effective and accountable service management and leadership to maximise outcomes for individuals.

24. 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.
Read slide.
For most of us, this usually includes friends and important relationships. And it takes commitment and effort to keep these relationships happening.

25. 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.
Read slide.
Making good quality connections with others can be difficult, and more particularly for people who are vulnerable or seen as being different in some way. The reality for many people with disabilities is a life of disconnection from other people in their community.
Our role as Support Workers will include doing specific tasks, but we should always remain focused on enriching people’s lives through connections with other people and networks in their community.

26. 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.
Read slide.
When exploring ways to connect people, it is useful to keep in mind that they are often the same strategies that we use for ourselves, except that we will need to be more conscious and deliberate in our efforts.

27. 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
Community Connectedness Guiding Principles (John McKnight)
Slide shows a few.
Read in full from workbook, if needed.
Activity — Making Connections

28. 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
Read slide.
Through conversation, we gather information, share ideas and connect with each other.
Listening to what ISN’T being said, is just as important to what is being said.

29. 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
Fundamental to designing supports for an individual is ‘knowing the person’ and deeply understanding their fundamental needs, aspirations, history, culture and perspective.
This takes time, trust and commitment. It might also mean listening to those who already know the person well. It could also mean moving beyond what we think we know about a person, to look beyond reputation, diagnosis and records to see the ‘wholeness of who the person is’.
Activity — Listening

30. 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
Strategies that can support knowing the person more would include –
• Taking time and building trust with the person,
• Use person-centred approaches – allowing and encouraging an individual to have a genuine voice/say;
• Taking a long term view – not just focusing on the here and now,
• Individual goal setting, constant review of the person’s Individual Support Plan (under the leadership of your Coordinator) and adapting the plan to suit changing needs.
Activities — How well do you know this person?

31. 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
Needs, Hopes and Dreams
Every person needs –
to have a sense of belonging
to feel safe and secure
to have health and wellbeing
to be able to make a contribution to others
to feel a sense of purpose
to have hopes and dreams.

32. 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.
Family and Service Relationships
It is important to consider a person in the context of his/her broader family or social network, particularly if the person is living in the family home or with others in close relationships.
There might be some fundamental needs associated with the family context such as a sense of belonging or a sense of safety and security.
Some challenges need to be faced for families and services to work together –
identifying and working towards the same goals
identifying areas of control in the person’s life
medication and the reasons for it

33. 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.
Differences of opinion and approaches between services, Support Workers and families need to be acknowledged.
Some families may be focused on the ‘here and now’ but also worry about what is likely to happen to their son or daughter when they can no longer care for them. It might take time for families to enter into a conversation about developing a long term plan for their son or daughter.
In many situations it will require working closely with families to build trust and rapport through honest and open communication.
When families and service providers find ways to work together well, we get the best results for the person with a disability. Finding the middle ground between heart and service will be the key to a successful relationship.

34. 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
Challenges for Service Providers
Truly listening to and responding to the needs of individuals.
Matching Support Workers to individuals, allowing the greatest opportunity for their relationship to develop into one that supports the person to live the life they want;
Introducing the individual in his/her most positive way, despite previous negative experiences;
Varying attitudes and levels of experience of Support Workers;
Shortfall in funding leading to inadequate support time, and low capacity to provide adequate staff training to meet the needs of people with complex needs.
END SECTION 1 of workbook. End of powerpoint Part 1.