Our approach is person centred and designed around the individual. Family, friends and other community members are important advocates for the people we support, and we work collaboratively with this circle of support to develop creative and flexible arrangements that meet the needs of the individual. What each person wants to get out of life and achieve is used to inform the design of how they are supported; who supports them; when and how. We empower individuals to make their own choices. This can be day to day decisions, such as what to eat and wear, or bigger life decisions like where to live and work.
We work with individuals to identify and explore opportunities to extend their independent living skills, interests, talents and experiences. Once we understand people’s goals we work together to develop plans to help them achieve the things that are important to them in a positive, planned and safe way. This approach delivers a strong sense of self-belief, confidence and fulfilment.
The key principles of person centred planning are:
- The individual being supported is the focus
- Family members and friends are partners in planning
- Priorities now and in the future are identified and support planned around this
- Maintaining and gaining social and community inclusion, and relationships
- Promoting independence by enabling choice and control
- Developing personal skills.
Staff are passionate about finding fresh, innovative and creative ideas to support individuals in their aims. We encourage people to increase their independence by making choices that can include a degree of positive risk taking, such as travelling independently or getting involved in opportunities for education, work and leisure. It’s an absolute priority to match the right support worker with a specific individual, as we know this can make such a difference to a person’s life. We try our best to get the right match using our staff matching tool that focuses on the interests and preferences of the person being supported.
People change and grow with their experiences, and therefore we undertake regular reviews and adapt support to meet the changing needs of the individual.
For us to deliver outstanding services it is vital we listen carefully to those we support and ensure their feedback is an intrinsic part of forming policies and procedures. We have created a participation path to give the people we support the chance to feedback and discuss the issues that are important to them. We hold regular meetings with people in their own homes and invite them to regional participation groups called ‘Better Together’ events each quarter.
Communication is key to support self-expression, which leads to a better quality of life by increasing independence and control. We work closely with speech and language therapists to develop communication plans which include attention to speech, body language, facial expression and touch, in addition to the use of picture, photos, symbols and sign language and electronic communication aids.
