Contents
Contents
About Groundswell Partnership . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 The Empower and Enable approach Introducing Empower and Enable
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Starting early and keeping it simple . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 Making it worth the effort . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 Helping people do it their way . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 Giving people Time to think . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
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Introduction
Introduction
Good Support Planning is critical to personalisation. At its best provides just the right amount of space, support and encouragement for people to think creatively about how to use the resources available to them to maximum effect and in doing so it increases peoples experience of choice and control.
At the time of writing, In Control, Shared Lives Plus, Community Catalysts and Inclusive Neighbourhoods have just published a joint paper arguing that support planning should be a universally available service and should build on peoples own skills and assets to lead the planning process rather than relying on professionals. We agree with this analysis and we think the model described in this paper offers a means to make this happen which is cost effective, sustainable and truly empowering. Good support planning is not only an essential component for people using personal budgets it is also good preventative practice for people with support needs who might fall outside local Fair Access to Care thresholds for support. This short paper explores the question of what it would take to make really good asset based support planning simple and universal. It builds on the work which Groundswell Partnership carried out in developing the Think Local Act Personal guidance Rethinking Support Planning in 2011 and looks at the practical steps which providers and councils need to take to demystify the planning process and make good support planning achievable and affordable. We call this approach Empower and Enable.
Not that many years ago, travel agents were busy people with large offices and waiting areas full of glossy brochures, where people came to see experts to arrange the best holiday possible. Whether you wanted two weeks on a sunny beach in a far-flung place, a weekend city break, or a camping trip in the lakes, travel agents were the first destination you needed to go to plan your trip. But things in the holiday business have moved on. Now you dont need to go to a travel agent to get ideas about where to go, how to get there, where to stay and what to do when youre there. Now, information about how to make the best holiday for yourself is everywhere, on the web, on the TV, in specialist travel magazines and in
newspaper supplements and once youve chosen your holiday, you can book some or all of it quickly and easily yourself, without ever needing to visit a high street. Of course some people do still visit a travel agent, but those that choose to, do so in the knowledge that this is one option amongst many for arranging the ideal break. We think Support planning should be as easy and as democratic as booking a holiday is for people now. It should be something people choose how to do, in a way that reflects their individual tastes and sensibilities, getting the information that they need easily from a range of sources. Over recent years the numbers of people choosing and booking holidays for themselves has grown as information and booking processes have opened up. Likewise with support planning, if we make the process simpler encouraging and open for people to try out for themselves, over time and step by step, people will do more for themselves and rely less on expert professionals. This is the simple but powerful idea behind Empower and Enable.
The real power of Empower and Enable is in its ability to work as a universal approach to support planning. It is not about working with a small number of people who can be persuaded to do DIY planning taking on the whole process for themselves, it is about changing our whole approach to support planning in a way that can work for everyone. Adopting the Empower and Enable model as a default approach allows us to overturn unhelpful and costly assumptions that people
need professional support for most or all of the process. We should be aiming for a position where people need a little rather than a lot of support and where that support is simple and easy to access and gives people the confidence to make their own plans.
We cannot expect people to direct their own support if we disempower them at the first stage of developing their support plan. We need to enable people to believe that they can direct their own support and this should involve developing their support plan. Making sure that people who introduce the idea of support planning believe in peoples capabilities to plan for themselves and starting conversations in the right way, is the most important step we can take to developing an empowering and enabling approach. Where people have limited capacity, the focus should be on finding ways to engage people who know and care for the person in planning and keeping the process as close to the individual as possible. This may inevitably require more professional input, but the key aim should remain not to over-support people.
Derby are working towards a one-page sign off sheet which they can share with people up front so that people know what information is required of them and understand this as distinct from the task of creating their own plan. If processes are clearly explained early on in this way then people are much more likely to feel willing to take hold of support planning for themselves. This in turn makes it easier for staff to introduce the idea of planning, what it is, how people can be
involved in leading the process, how other people have made their plans, and the different ways people can be supported to create a plan.
A good plan should feel useful and realistic. It doesnt need to be a huge undertaking or highly detailed. People need to understand and believe in the benefits of making a plan. The main trap to avoid is making the plan something which is focused on providing the information needed for signing off a budget. This should be considered separately. Information for sign off may fall out of the planning process but it is not what the plan is for.
People approach new things in different ways, and we need to understand how best to work with people in order to engage them really well. Some people might prefer to follow a simple step-by-step approach where everything is explained simply and all you need to do is follow the order of tasks set out for you. For people who like planning in this way the following guide to support planning might be a useful starting point. www.supportplanning.org Other people might prefer a looser way of working, where they are given some rough guidelines, and let loose to be creative. For people who like working in this way, the following tools may be a good way to start.
Tools to help you with your support plan: www.bit.ly/hsa-infocards A Support Planning Graphic Template: www.bit.ly/hsa-sp-graphic (pdf) Some people might prefer to have instructions in real time to follow perhaps from a video clip on You Tube or a TV programme. A small number of councils are beginning to develop video guides for people to follow in developing their own plans. As these resources become more widely available we will be highlighting them through our website. For others working together with other people in a class or group environment might be the best option. For people who like this way of working a planning live session might be a really good way forward. www.bit.ly/hsa-usingplanninglive If you would like to hear about how to tailor support planning to peoples individual learning styles, in a different way, you can view a short video explaining the approach. www.bit.ly/hsa-EmpowerEnable-video
Once people have some tools to use to start developing their own plan we need to give them some time and space to get on with it. After a week or so we can then contact the person in the way that we agreed with them to see how their support plan is developing. If we discover then that the person wants more help, we can offer this in the form, for example, of a drop in, or by linking them up to someone who can provide advice before leaving them to take the next steps. People to People in Shrewsbury, which operates as an independent social enterprise offers drop ins and peer support to help people plan. Set up by Shropshire Council to support everyone with eligible social care needs in Shrewsbury, People for People are adopting the Empower and Enable approach as their default approach to support planning. They are taking advantage of the location of the new practice is in which is the middle of a busy residential area next to a dentist to set up 2 weekly drop in slots for people to get advice to make their own plans. In turn, people supported by the practice will be asked if they would be willing to support others in the same way and this approach is being used to build up local capacity for peer support and encouragement for people to use it. Once people have had a chance to get going, we can agree the next time to call and see how the person is getting on, for example, in two weeks time. If when we call this time, the person wants more help, then we could offer to link them up with someone who can help them to plan. This could be a peer supporter, or a care manager. Using this approach we offer resources and support as the person needs and wants it, rather than starting with the default being a care manager to plan with you. Planning needs to be seen as an iterative process which shouldnt often need to take more than a few weeks but is flexible and can be built on over time. In the meantime, a number of things may need to happen to ensure people have their needs met. A short term plan could be agreed and a short term package of support may need to be arranged in the interim. Information can also be gathered in order to sign off a budget but these things can happen in parallel to
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the creation of a longer term support plan. Once people are happy with their plan they should be able to share it in a way that feels appropriate to them. Some information may be more personal and private than others so it is important for the Council to offer a summary sheet which can capture only the information which is required for sign off and anything else which people may wish to share with others such as care providers or personal assistants.
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Derby City Council is committed to an Empower and Enable approach to Support Planning where the model of Support Brokerage exists for customers to produce their own Support Plan and Support Brokerage external to the Council is available. The model seeks to create community based support as a desired outcome of Self-Directed Support with less reliance on paid Support Brokerage. Social care workers are expected to adopt this approach to Support Brokerage and be the last rather than first resort for Support Brokerage.
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Personal
My plan. reflects who I am and it makes sense to me. Support to help me create it is light touch and tailored to suit me.
support planning
Increased use of person-centred
Goal orientated
My plan sets out what I want to change and achieve and describes ways I can do that.
achievable
My plan is practical and achievable and says enough for me to understand how to put it into action.
how to achieve goals and outcomes The plan makes good use of the resources available Plans are achievable within the resources available
Plans vary in length and detail People decide how much to share in
ProPortionate
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My plan feels the right size for what I want it to do.
their plans
People decide who to share their
plans with
adaPtable
I can adapt my plan if things change and I know I can get support with this if I need it.
different routes to achieve the agreed goals and outcomes People understand where to go for additional support People understand what can be changed without needing to talk to their social worker
Over time people take on more of
emPowerinG
Developing my plan has helped me gain confidence to do more next time .
own plans support others to feel confident to do the same Good Stories are shared
Plans consider peoples social and
social
My plan helps me think about how to maintain and improve relationships and networks that are important to me and give me a sense of belonging and purpose.
community links Reviews show people are able to use resources to strengthen social and family networks An increase in use of pooled budgets
In Shrewsbury people with short term support needs are offered an Independence Budget following assessment in order to achieve shortterm goals around independence. People are encouraged to lead the planning for achieving these short-term reablement goals and longer term goals if they have further support needs. To support this, they are encouraged to attend drop in sessions which are led by local Peer Support expert volunteers who have already developed a support plan for themselves or a family member. The aim is to give people the confidence and information to lead their own planning and to grow this body of local volunteers as people increasingly lead their own planning. Early indication is Support Plans are up to 50% more cost effective as people draw on natural and mainstream supports.
JEnny PiTTS, dirEcTor PEoPlE2PEoPlE cic
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Lancashire are also making plans to embed Empower and Enable as their core approach to support planning and are looking to increase the number of people developing their own plans from 1% to 15% over the next 3 years. In addition they are aiming to make simple DIY tools much more freely available and move the majority of support planning expertise out of the council to rest within a network of community based organisations who will provide peer support and training for people to plan as a first resort rather than one to one advice.
Get in touch
If you would like to talk to us more about how we could help you with this please contact us at sarah@groundswellpartnership.co.uk
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