Digital technology is opening up new ways in which people can develop their own person centred plan.
Author: Danielle Farrel
Person-Centred Planning, to those who have never heard of it before, might seem to be another strategic way for Social Services or others in authority to plan the lives and support needs of disabled people without actively involving them. The word planning for some would just imply that the process is just going to be another one that is led by resources rather than individuals themselves.
However, this cannot be further from the truth. It is the “person-centred” aspect of this planning process that makes it stand out and differ from other processes involved in arranging support for a disabled person. That’s because it is all about the person not about what resources are on offer. Resources will of course come into it at some stage, but this specific process looks more at what resources the person has around them for themselves as opposed to the more often than not limited resources that are commonly based on budgets being offered by the local authorities.
For many disabled people, this is a completely new process because it is often the case that we are never allowed to dream. If you are a disabled person, it is almost as if as a child people are afraid to ask the question “what do you want to be when you grow up”? stop and think about this for a minute, every child is asked this question but not every disabled child. Why?
The Person-Centred Planning process does the exact opposite to this, it starts at the dream or the Northern Star and works backwards to the present day. Working through the process it looks at where the disabled person is now and where they want to be and what they need to enable them to get there. For me as a disabled person up until the age of 30 I had heard about this process but didn’t know what kind of impact it could have. I now know having allowed myself to go through the process what a difference it made to my life but not only that, I also recognise what difference it would have made had it been offered to me sooner as I transitioned from child to adult services.
Everything I have achieved so far in life, I have done by overcoming numerous challenges but had someone sat down with me who was in authority and involved in arranging my support and asked me the question:
“Danielle, what do you want to be when you grow up?”
or as an adult:
“What are your aspirations and goals?”
the process of how I have gotten to this point in life could have been a whole lot smoother.
I’ve now been planned with twice as a supported person and its fair to say that this has contributed to my determination and drive for person-centred planning to become a statutory service that any disabled people can access when it feels right for them. This is something that I along with other colleges in Scotland constantly discuss and tried to change even in a small way.
In terms of the methods of person-centred planning there are two main methods which can be adopted in successfully facilitated. These are Maps and Paths. Maps is a planning process for people that begins with a story- the history. In comparison, a path is a conversational planning process that has been adopted and adapted by many families, disabled people and organisations. Path draws on people’s capacities to imagine different futures and to think backwards from a future possibility and to think about what needs to be in place to make that future possibility become a reality.
Traditionally Maps and Paths have been facilitated by two facilitators and drawing on a piece of paper on a wall. One of the two facilitators would facilitate the conversation whilst the other will graphic the conversation as it happens. By the end of the conversations the supported person at the heart of the conversation would have a plan on paper that they could share as they wish top help would facilitate good and equal conversations around their support and aspirations for the future.
In more recent times plans have been more often facilitated fully by one facilitator. This change has been supported by the fact that there has been a shift in how person-centred planning support can now be provided online. This way of providing this support has meant that one facilitator can take on the role of both facilitating the conversation and producing a graphic to support it.
However, the digital era of person-centred planning has not only enabled a change in the number of facilitators required to facilitate a plan it has changed the overall approach to the process and ultimately the whole delivery of it. Digital person-centred planning is definitely opening up a new era of the support. This approach to person-centred planning still takes the person at the heart of it on a journey working backwards from the dream, before exploring in different ways how to make the shift from it being a dream to a reality for each person at the heart of a plan.
The digital approach allows for a new and unique level of personalisation. In the traditional approach the person at the heart of each plan could choose the colours they wanted to be used in the plan and perhaps what graphics were used to illustrate it to a certain degree. However, with digital person-centred planning, particularly when creating paths enables each person being planned with to illustrate their identity and whatever way they choose.
This could be by composing a piece of music that then plays all the way through their plan. They can include their favourite song or mashup of songs as well as photos, artwork, images, voice over and anything else that has the capacity to be illustrated digitally. To add to the accessibility of digital person-centred planning, it can also be conducted in shorter sessions over a longer period of time rather than just be facilitated in one day as was the traditional approach.
This flexible approach to person-centred planning enables sessions to be at a time that suits the person being planned with and these are easier to re-schedule if for any reason they are not feeling up to it as a planning session approaches. It also means the person at the heart of it has complete control over how they approach the session e.g. if they feel comfortable in their pyjamas eating breakfast whilst chatting about their plan, that’s completely appropriate.
Alternatively, if they would rather their plan was facilitated in person this can also be arranged as the digital approach can be implemented in person too. This in person approach is quite similar to the traditional in-person approach whereby the supported person can see their plan coming together but whilst still having the choice to add the digital elements previously highlighted.
As with everything, over years to come the digital approach to person-centred planning will evolve as technology evolves too and broaden its capabilities. However, at this stage the digital person-centred planning approach has undeniably added value to the traditional person-centred planning approach, opening this up to a range of people with differing abilities, supported peoples, families and facilitators alike. Adopting the path approach to person-centred planning, the digital approach is definitely creating a new path in terms of the implementation of person-centred planning.
Find out more about Danielle's work at Your Options Understood at: https://youroptionsunderst.wixsite.com/y-o-u
The publisher is Citizen Network Research. A Digital Approach to Person-Centred Planning © Danielle Farrel 2024.
children and families, disability, faith & creativity, Person-Centred Planning, Self-Directed Support, Europe, Global, Scotland, Article
