NDSLiving in the West 2010

The Person Centred Journey

Never -ending^

Overview

About Lifestyle Solutions

About answers to the question

About Mel

About Wayne

Lifestyle Solutions

Established in 2002

Services and support

What guides and supports us

The question!

For person centred approaches to be genuinely embraced and realised in the lives of the people we support, what needs to be considered, preserved, challenged and changed within the organisation and amongst its staff?

What have we considered?

Guiding Principles and Vision Innovative

Creative

Responsive

Person Centred

Never Give Up

Our Vision: Supporting People in Creating Lifestyle Solutions

Supports and Structures

The Person Centred Think Tank

LSOCS

National Leadership Team

Positions

News across the organisation

Conversation and cultivating attitudes -innovation

PCTT We will ensure the Vision, Mission and Values Statements,

underpinned by the five core principles upon which Lifestyle Solutions was founded are considered, enacted, felt, modelled, seen and heard in our actions, efforts, support, systems, language, our progress, the way in which we meet challenge and celebrate success, all the way on our person centred journey

Supports and Structures

The Person Centred Think Tank

LSOCS

National Leadership Team

Positions

News across the organisation

Conversation and cultivating attitudes -innovation

Person Centred Think Tank ‘Our Purpose’

The Person Centred Think Tank ‘What Success Looks Like’

What’s important to preserve?Relationships

Strategic Plan

Pursuit of opportunity

Integrity

People and plans

Success stories

Resources and champions

What we’ve challenged...‘Just because it is...doesn’t mean it should be’

The genuine definition of partnership

Traditional funding streams

Existing mind sets, how flexible are we?

Systems and roles

The notion of what’s really possible –never giving up

What has changed....Practicalities (finance, admin, recruitment, communication)

Processes and Policies

Thinking and delivery

How we interpret ‘service’

How we speak, what we say

Responsiveness and accountability

Independent

l

y

me

Self Governance

Self-Governance means: I have more control over my own life. I have rightful responsibility for myself and

I create opportunities for a variety of life experiences. I set (and mostly) achieve personal goals. By controlling my own plans and support I

enhance my capacity to participate in my community in a flexible, typical, Mel kind of way.

Self-Governed Support looks different for everyone who uses it.

THAT’S THE WHOLE IDEA! but basically it allows ME to develop a support team that gets to know ME and can help work WITH ME

towards DOING WHAT I WANT TO DO.

I am in charge of the goals that I believe will help me to participate to my full potential in my community

What does Self Governance mean for me?

Working up a sweat!

I like to swim

I volunteer for the Red Cross “Tenant-Connect” program

‘Disability Awareness’ presentations and talks

I’m a very social 23-year-old who likes to attend parties, have dinner with friends, shop, travel and just generally enjoy things that any other people my age like doing!

• The framework enables me to live the life I have created and wish to pursue for myself

• Is self -directed in nature

• facilitates and helps me put into action the dreams, hopes and aspirations I have for myself

• takes on the values and attitudes that I grew up with, that my family taught me

Profiling –getting ideas on paper

Advertising

Interview processes

Next step

My pace! Less time-pressure: can negotiate support hours

Workers don’t need to be identified as ‘carers’

Flexibility, stability and retention of my staff

Increased freedom

Getting to participate actively

If you can foster open, transparent and honest relationships with workers, you will have better communication between all parties

Keys to successful self governed supports

Partnership

Roles and Responsibilities

Matching support

Problem solving

(Healthy) Relationships

Potential Pitfalls ...You and your family/supporters/network need to be ready

to be in charge of what you want to do because no-one will tell you what you should be doing. This is why I like Self-Governed Support so much, but you need to be prepared to take it on.

It is your responsibility to take on some ‘management’ roles (e.g. Diarising, paperwork, record keeping, planning). This is something that we all do for ourselves, it’s just a little more formalised.

People are people-and people can change

A comparison(What my experience has told me)

TRADITIONAL (Centre-based)

Recruitment ...Decision made by service management team.

Planning.... Can sometimes focus on limited areas such as education OR social and can be difficult to combine the two.

Workers.... Have to wear a uniform, this means they must be identified as a personal support worker in the community rather than a peer or companion or friend.

Harder to maintain continuity

Structure .... Support is often delivered within certain hours decided by the service.

NOW (Self-Managed)

Recruitment.... Write ads, interview, select, induct/train

Planning.... Own day and activities without needing to run it past a service manager for consultation. The only people involved in the planning are the participant and the worker and anybody else that the participant asks to be involved. Planning is real.

Workers.... Flexibility, friendly, professionalism, is able to feel comfortable in environments that the participant chooses to be a part of, share common interests.

Structure... Self-governed support is structured by individual needing support and negotiated with worker.

Make a change

So don’t be scared to step out and make a change, because you never know where it may lead you. It certainly has

been a positive change for me.

‘Aim for the moon. If you miss, you may hit a star.’

W. Clement Stone

Wayne’s story