Organisations

Using person centred thinking and planning within organisations requires cultural change and thoughtful implementation.

Person centred thinking skills, when used widely can create a person centred culture that makes self directed support more likely. When this is present in organisations we see person centred teams, positive and productive meetings, a different approach to choice and risk, staff supervised in a person centred way and a strong focus on community connections.

Innovative organisations are using individual service funds to ensure people can direct their own support.

 

Papers and Articles

What are we learning about person centred organisations? by Richard Williams and Helen Sanderson.
Are you passionate about the person or people you support having a great life? Are you concerned to see report after report highlight the huge gap between the quality of life of people with learning disabilities and those without? Are you frustrated that so much of the support we provide seems dangerously similar to that provided 5 or 10 years ago? Then read on.

As person centred planning has significantly developed over the last five years, there has been an increased recognition that organisations providing support also need to change. Indeed they can block people having the lives that they want, and frequently do. Whilst it can feel pretty difficult to support change in even one person's life it can appear overwhelmingly difficult to support or lead organisations to change.

We both work in provider organisations, and have spent the last two years thinking about what it really means to be a person centred organisation. We settled on 7 key elements. We are sure we haven't got it just right and as we learn over time some other elements will appear more important, others less. However the seven we have identified for now are based on lots of real life experience and supported by research and theory. The VPST provider checklist was based on this paper.

Here are the 7 key elements that we believe are the foundation for person centred organisations:

1. Visionary leadership 
2. Shared values and beliefs 
3. Outcomes for individuals 
4. Community focus 
5. Empowered and valued staff 
6. Individual and organisational learning 
7. Partnership

What we all require is the courage to take a step forward and do something new or different or stop doing even one thing that we know doesn't support someone to have the life they want. We do need some time to think, but above all we need courage to act. That is why we suggest three things to try at the end of each section and share stories from the organisations we are or have worked in (and some from Richard's recent study tour). If you are doing the 'things to try' already, brilliant. Email us and tell us what is working and not working and when we update this paper we will add your suggestions. If you are not yet doing any of them, commit to doing something new or different next week.

To view this paper see the downloads box on the left.

 

'Becoming a person centred system' A brief overview of what we are learning in the USA and UK by Michael Smull, Mary Lou Bourne and Helen Sanderson.

A variety of agencies, in many different locations across the US and UK, have engaged with us in a set of efforts that have evolved over time. At each location the goal has been consistent: to create person centered systems that support person directed services. The learning from working toward that goal has changed the approach. What follows is a brief overview of the evolution of the approach and the key lessons. Because this is a brief overview, much is left out and will be described in subsequent publications.

Some of the central ideas of the effort are:
• Changes in rules and practice should be driven by learning what is and is not working in supporting individuals
• Using a small set of value based skills at all levels of the system will drive change throughout the system
• Using these skills in conjunction with selected quality management and organizational development tools will improve quality of life and increase organizational effectiveness and efficiency

In this paper we describe the evolution of these efforts, making change at all levels of the system through listening, and the critical role of 'system managers'.

To view this paper see the downloads box on the left.

 

Individual Service Providers

Postcard for Individual Service Providers