New Types of Worker - Person Centred Planning for People with Autism Spectrum Disorders
Person Centred Planning for People with Autism Spectrum Disorders - Implications for the Workforce
Context / Background
National Autistic Society
This project was set up to look at the effects for workers who facilitate person-centred planning (PCP) within services provided by the National Autistic Society (NAS)
The project started from the premise that the benefits of PCP for people using services had been assessed, and this project would look at the effects for workers.
The research was carried out independently by the Foundation for People with Learning Disabilities.
The Aims and Objectives of the Activity
Aim- To assess the costs and benefits of person-centred planning (PCP) on staff within the National Autistic Society, providing support to people with autism in a range of settings including residential and outreach support and an independent hospital.
- To identify the skills and the knowledge base needed by facilitators employed by the National Autistic Society (NAS). (The term ‘facilitators’ is used here to mean people charged with making sure that person-centred planning happens.)
- To explore the impact of facilitating person-centred planning upon members of the NAS staff who take on this role.
- To make an assessment of the factors that have helped, and the factors that have hindered, the implementation of PCP facilitator training across NAS services.
The Plan
We planned to undertake the study through paper research, interviews and focus groups, and to produce a report and key messages, describing the findings.
What Happened
- A review was carried out of the academic and the ‘grey’ literature on the facilitation of person-centred planning and person-centred planning with people on the autistic spectrum.
- Fieldwork and background research were completed at the end of 2008. Forty-four facilitators from the NAS facilitator network took part in an online survey.
- Interviews were conducted with facilitators and other significant informants at four sites across England & Wales, to explore in more detail the practical experience of facilitation.
What was Achieved
Key messages have been recorded in an evaluation of the workforce implications, and in a summary form, which also gives a clear definition of what person-centred planning entails.
What Helped and What Hindered
- Frontline facilitators had high motivation for person-centred planning with the people they were supporting.
- The biggest barrier perceived by facilitators was negative attitude of others to person-centred planning.
- Also, facilitators expressed particular concern about the ability of day-to-day care staff to turn plans into action.
What We Found Out
- We found that there is actually a dearth of research evidence about the effectiveness of person-centred approaches generally, and little if any about how they can help people on the autistic spectrum.
- Person-centred planning for people with autism is not well established nationally, but the NAS is in the vanguard of making it happen.
- We identified what makes a good facilitator, training and support needs, and problems experienced by facilitators.
- We found high motivation amongst facilitators of PCP, and belief that PCP improves the lives of people supported by the NAS.
Evaluation
Emerging trends in the impact of this activity are encouraging. Facilitators feel a sense of achievement and are highly motivated to achieve change for the people they support.
There is some way to go to ensure that a similar commitment infuses the culture of the organisation more widely so that planning is more effective and more plans are translated into action. There is also scope for facilitators to broaden the scope of person-centred planning to incorporate more external influences, especially from the families and friends of the people supported by services.
What New or Changed Skills do People Need to Work in This Way?
For details, see the section: What makes a good facilitator, in the summary, and on page 8 of the evaluation.
The Future
A national strategy on facilitation within the NAS should be set out. For details of what we felt this should contain, see summary.
Contact details
Names
Carol Povey/ Georgina Gomez – NAS Paul Swift - The Foundation for People with Learning Disabilities
phone
0207 903 3767
E-mail
carol.povey@nas.org.uk
Georgina.Gomez@nas.org.uk
pswift@fpld.org.uk
Date
24.6.09
