Person-centred approaches

Overview

Person-centred approaches ensure that people are seen as individuals who are valued for their unique gifts and contributions.¹ This helps people to live the way they want, rather than just fitting them into, or making them work with, what is available. Person-centred approaches help people engage in mainstream life to the degree that they wish. Central to the person-centred approach is a focus on the person as opposed to a focus on their disability or on the provision of a specific service. The person is at the centre of decision-making, resulting in supports and services that are tailored to the person.²
Person-centred approaches include a set of more specific practices and ways of working. These include:

• person-centred thinking – this is a philosophy, a way of thinking or mindset, which involves listening to and supporting people with disability to identify their strengths, abilities, aspirations and preferences. This helps people with a disability to make decisions that are meaningful to them and their lives. Different thinking tools are available to help structure this approach.³
• person-centred planning – this includes a variety of methods that help explore and map what is important to a person from their own perspective, what is important for the person to keep them healthy and safe, and the actions and changes needed to bring these things about.⁴

Person-centred approaches have been a strong focus in disability services internationally for more than forty years, and in Australia – as part of policy –  since the early 2000s. In terms of people with disability more broadly, person-centred practice is a term that is commonly used across a range of health, disability, social and community services settings. The term person-centred practice is often used in specific models of service for people with disability such as Customised Employment, which helps people find jobs that are tailored to their skills, interests and preferences. 

When person-centred approaches are utilised well, they can create or enhance a sense of purpose and empowerment for a people with a disability.⁵

Key strategies for success

Person-centred approaches are delivered through the way individual service staff and others work with people with disability.  Strategies for staff to use include:

• getting to know the person, their own unique history, interests and goals in life
• treating the person as an individual who is an expert in their own life
• building strong relationships between providers, employers and the person with disability and their families (where relevant)
• being strengths-based and capability-focused
• delivering services in a supportive, confidence-building environment
• focusing on capability development through the provision of meaningful activities and meaningful work
• putting the person’s preferences first where it is possible to do so.⁶