This document discusses keeping active support, a person-centered approach to supporting individuals with disabilities, as an ongoing way of working. It addresses common challenges in implementing active support, such as treating it as an "add-on" rather than an integral part of support work. The document also discusses measuring whether active support is achieving its goals through tools like the Disability Outcome Standards and collecting feedback from individuals, staff, and organizational audits. Overall, the key message is that actively supporting individuals' belonging, respect, community participation, contributions, and choices must remain an ongoing focus, not just a "check and forget" task.

1. Active Support :
Keeping It Real
Catherine Fraser
&
Margery Pithouse
field – furthering inclusive learning & development

2. We are assuming you all know
what Active Support is
So today’s focus:
1. How are we going with it?
2. How we keep going (including
measurement)

3. …remember that
Active Support is a Person-Centred
Approach
Based on John O’Brien’s
“5 accomplishments”:
1. Belonging
2. Being Respected
3. Sharing Ordinary Places
4. Contributing
5. Choosing

4. Active support is
about being more engaged and
participating in life

5. How are we going?
Where are you on the journey?

6. (What) (Who)
See Helen Sanderson’s
Donut of Responsibility

7. (The GO Who …Helen Sanderson’s Doughnut)
“The doughnut is a
tool that helps
staff, not only to
see what they
must do (core
responsibilities),
but where they
can try things
(judgement and
creativity) and
what is not their
responsibility.”
www.helensandersonassociates.co.uk/
Helen Sanderson Associates/TLCELP
Created by The Grove Consultants International

8. What have you found?
Feedback from our travels is that
there are a number of challenges

9. The 6 challenges
1. Active Support as an “add-on”
2. How?
3. Time
4. Paperwork
5. OH&S + Duty of Care
6. Teamwork + Momentum

10. Challenge 1 : Active Support as an
“add-on”
What you can do
What your organization can do

11. Challenge 2: How?
Applying knowledge to individuals

12. Challenge 3: Time
What you DO not how long is your
shift?

13. Challenge 4: Paperwork
Not the aim of the (Active Support )
exercise

14. Challenge 5: OH&S + Duty of Care
Excuses and conflicts

15. Challenge 6: Teamwork + Momentum
Responsibilities (the HSA doughnut)
Sharing
Growing, building and learning
together
Keeping it going

16. Where are we at?

17. “Confidently doing it” & “Sustaining it”
How to get positive results
Already looked some through
strategies and challenges…
… don’t stop! Its not check and forget,
it’s an on–going WAY of working.
But do we know if we are on the
right track?

18. Am I doing it properly?
There is already a framework for this
(we don’t need to make up new things);
the Disability Outcome Standards
Individuality
Capacity
Participation
Citizenship
Leadership

19. Individuality
Each Individual has goals. Wants,
aspirations and support needs, and
makes decisions and choices about
their life.

20. Capacity
Each individual’s abilities and
potential are identified and
encouraged.

21. Participation
Each individual is able to be part of
his or her community

22. Citizenship
Each individual has rights and
responsibilities as a member of the
community

23. Leadership
Each individual has the opportunity
to inform the way that supports are
provided.

24. Evidence
We can see and feel (anecdotal
evidence)
People are happier & initiating activities
Staff often happier and job satisfaction
higher
Inevitably, you would ASK people.

25. Measuring
What measuring stick would you use?
Organisations are already measuring through
auditing processes
Tools & processes to check if services are
realising (making REAL) their mission
statement
Measuring is ongoing – the ‘GO’ keeps
going!

26. Who does the measuring?
Measuring is not the job of support
workers – it’s a management
responsibility (HAS donut)
Staff have a hugely important role in “the
doing” and,
Staff, with clients themselves, are the
organisation’s eyes and ears on the ground.
Collecting and passing on information in lots of ways…

27. Ways this can happen
Records and notes including team
meeting notes, ISPs etc
Structured Supervision
peer, one-to-one, group etc
Reflective Practice / Self-Reflection
Shadowing Coaching & Mentoring
……Learning@work

28. “Active Support Measure”, Mansell & Elliot 1996
An academic study*
Seductive “list” of indicators/items
Danger of tasks that can be ticked-off
Importance of the 2nd bit – rating engagement
Qualifications to do so
Identification of barriers & strategies
Our ‘Challenges’ eg “over emphasis on record
keeping”
Strategies eg shared values and valuing;
supervision, mentoring, coaching, team building &
communication etc
*“Engagement in meaningful activity and “active support” of people with intellectual disabilities in residential care”,
Mansell et al, Tizard Centre, University of Kent at Canterbury, UK, 2002

29. ‘permission’…
confidence…
mutual respect
What you can do … mindset
Direct Disability Support Work
…the ‘interface’ for Active Support
Person with a disability
Service
inputs > experience > outcomes

30. “GO”, field – furthering inclusive learning and development, 2010.
“The Doughnut”, Helen Sanderson Associates, www.helensandersonassociates.co.uk

31. Looking further…
www.field.org.au
Learning@work
Case Studies
www.helensandersonassociates.co.uk
www.kent.ac.uk/tizard/active/index.html