People with Health Issues

We are using person centered thinking tools to help people think about their health and being well.

Issues may include: the desire to quit smoking, eat a healthy diet and exercising, or communicate health concerns with your doctor. One page profiles are being developed by people to share with medical professionals, family and supporters to let people know how they want to be supported.

We are working internationally with People and Partner Organisations to develop One Page Profiles and Person Centred Approaches in hospitals.

People are also using one page profiles and person centred thinking to consider how to become healthier, and to manage long term conditions. For example people experiencing cancer are using person centered thinking tools along their journey with cancer. If you want to know more about this, please go to the section of our website 'people living with long term health conditions' and also go to our website thinkaboutyourlife.org

Books

The minibook, Person Centred Thinking and Health is availiable from the HSA Press website or by calling 0161 442 8271.

Papers and Articles

 

Alison's story  - From the perspective of someone with a visual impairment

Alison currently receives direct payments and has a personal assistant to support her with the tasks she finds difficult to manage because she has a visual impairment. In the past year, Alison has been working within a pilot coproduction support planning team to create a support plan to help receive a personal budget. This will help her to have more flexibility and control with the funding she receives. Alison's support plan was recently reviewed by a panel and has since been approved.

To read Alison's story in full, please click here.

 

Person Centred Health Action Plans.

This paper will introduce one page Health Action Plans, a way of supporting people to achieve and maintain good health that places person centred thinking at the centre of the process. It will examine what Government policy said about Health Action Planning and will look at what has been tried since 2001. The learning that has taken place will be considered and the components of a one page Health Action Plan will be discussed. The best people to do Health Action Planning with individuals will be suggested and the advantages and disadvantages of this kind of method will be examined.

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

Using person centred thinking for people with Epilepsy.

This paper shows how a nursing team in Wiltshire have personalised the care they deliver for people with epilepsy, by using the person centred thinking tool - the doughnut sort to address the confusion around care staff responsibilities.

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

 

Person Centred Thinking and Acute Hospital Care - Maureen's story.
This story shows how a residential services team in Wiltshire used the person centred thinking tools, and developed a one page profile for Maureen to help support health colleagues in saving a disabled lady's life.

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

Blogs

Think About Your Life is a website for people to use on their cancer journey. Amanda George is the founder of Think About Your Life.  Read Amanda's Think About Your Life blogs on her page.

Podcasts

How ThinkAboutYourLife.org can help cancer patients.

Amanda George talks with Helen Sanderson in the first of six video podcasts.

To view more podcasts from think about your life, see the Helen Sanderson channel on Youtube.

 

Examples and Stories

Paula's scrapbook health profile.
Paula developed this scrapbook health profile as part of the Women Be Healthy class she attended.  Paula has a son with a developmental disability and is a passionate advocate for disability rights.  Often, she puts others needs ahead of her own. She said doing the health profile helped her determine what she needed to do for her health.

John's Story.

This is John's story about how he gave up smoking.