person centred newsletter april 2013

............. Northcott Person Centred Newsletter • April 2013 • 1 ...........

Our monthly newsletter offers small and real examples from people we support who are having a stronger voice, more control over their lives and more choices.

Ambassadors and Champions for ‘Living Life My Way’

April 2013

Congratulations to Rebecca Donatiello, Gretta Serov and Quang Nguyen, who are Living Life My Way Ambassadors and Champions. This is a new NSW Government initiative to raise community awareness about disability reform in NSW. Andrew Constance, Minister for Disability Services, remarked of the 19 people appointed to the roles; “This is an extraordinary group of people…and they all share the common desire to make a lasting and positive difference in the lives of others”. Rebecca reflects on hearing she was to become an Ambassador:

When I applied for the Ambassador role, I thought that I won't be

able to get the job because of my communication skills – I am not

verbal and I thought that there would be 100 people better than me

for the job. So I stopped thinking about it until I got an email saying

you are going to be an Ambassador. I was very surprised that I was

the person chosen for that kind of role. Now I'm very proud of myself

making it this far. I can't wait to do something new in my life and meet

new people.

I'm willing to do my very best in what I do in this job. This is what I

want to get out of being a Living Life My Way Ambassador. I want to

improve my confidence, meet with different people and try out new

things in life.

Rebecca


Moving On Person Centred Practice in Ballina

Ballina’s Community Participation Program took a day out recently to reflect on where they wanted to take their person centred practice.

Some of their ideas for clients to have greater control and choice include:

• 2 client-run support groups

• clients co-facilitating movement and drama sessions.

Ballina’s Community Participation Program PATH - moving to a greater person centred service


Northcott’s Communicating The Change team spent time in Ballina on how to integrate person centred practice with staff using a number of tools:

Tool No. 1: Group culture

Tool No. 2: Qualities of a Person Centred Worker

Tool No. 3: What’s Working/What’s Not Working

Tool No. 4: Solution Circle

Tool No. 5: Landscape Plan

Championing Change in Ballina

Vicki, Kim, Talitha, Susan and Michelle from Northcott’s Ballina Office – relaxing after the Championing Change workshop – an intensive 3-hour workshop which focused on how to communicate person centred values with staff and clients through the use of 5 person centred tools.

Tool: Group Culture – a useful tool to use to discuss how staff and clients are treated by one another. Can be put up in office or service area as a very visual way to indicate ‘this is the way we work – in a person centred way’.


Moving On Person Centred Practice in Coffs and Taree

Staff from Northcott’s Coffs Harbour and Taree offices developing person centred ideas for the next 12 months

Some brainstorming on what first steps to make great ideas happen.


Prizing creativity and flexibility

Shirls and Sarah visited Ballina and Coffs to work with staff, clients, and family members. Here, Sarah reflects on a key theme which emerged; the generosity of people sharing their experiences and knowledge with one another.

My main reflection from this time away is on

the importance of sharing. A person centred

approach comes with no precise formula; there

is no one ‘right’ model. Person centred practice

emphasizes individual creativity, flexibility

and using active listening skills. I particularly

appreciate this individual approach to work

when I meet teams working in regional areas

like Ballina and Coffs. They have creatively

adapted to particular challenges, like staffing

shortages or limited resources, by sharing and

learning from one another. People were very

enthusiastic about using more tools to develop

people's goals and opportunities.

Sarah Pearce


Transforming Breakfasts! - ‘Blueprint for Organisational Transformation – Sector Leaders Breakfast Series’

Ben Keyte, Michael Goldsworthy and Shirley Wong at the first Breakfast Conversation.

The Centre for Disability Studies, has launched a Breakfast Series for people working in the disability sector who are grappling with organisational transformation. Funded by the NDIS Practical Design Fund, and led by a Steering Committee which includes Ben and Shirls from Northcott, it has heard from two ‘conversation catalysts’ so far. Experienced consultants, Michael Goldsworthy and Michael Kendrick have usefully challenged the Breakfasters’ perceptions of what structural and cultural change is necessary in the Australian disability sector over the next few years.

Graphing of Breakfast Conversation 1 – ‘The Invitation’ with Michael Goldsworthy


Shirls, Michael Kendrick and Ben.

Graphing of Breakfast Conversation 2 – ‘Possibilities’ with Michael Kendrick

Breakfasters discuss the ‘Possibilities’ issues in World Café style groups. Shirls chats with Patricia O’Brien, from CDS, the Facilitator of the Breakfast Series.


Focus on Tools:

Person Centred Qualities of a Person Centred Worker

How to start:

1. Brainstorm with people who use support workers, recruit, or work with support workers on what are the qualities that they most appreciate or want from a worker?

2. Write up those qualities agreed on.

3. Discuss how these qualities are demonstrated.

4. Decide how you want to use this list. Would this be useful to have up in the office?

Ideas from Ballina staff on how they can use this tool:

• Good tool to use with staff at a team meeting or team planning day.

• It is also a tool you can use with clients and staff together to build an understanding of what clients want from staff.

• It can be used in recruiting and advertising for staff.

• Use in supervision or performance review with staff as a checklist.


Developing Skills and Confidence as a Champion

A key focus on Northcott’s Champions Program is to support people to develop great facilitation skills. In session 3, Champions who use Northcott services facilitated 1 Page Profiles for Champions, Michael, Thanh and Belinda, who are Northcott staff members. For those facilitating, it was a great chance to use their increased confidence and assertiveness. Part of developing a 1 Page Profile is to identify a person’s strengths and gifts. This was done in a large group, which Michael said was very powerful. “To hear people tell you what strengths you possess, was a very positive

and validating experience”. Michael and the others will use their 1 Page Profiles when first meeting new clients and staff.

Marina facilitating Michael’s 1 Page Profile.

Roselands Champions finish with a PATH

Nine new Champions finished the four-workshop Program by developing their own PATH, complete with detailed first steps to kick start them in their Champion roles. As person centred change agents, there was a strong theme of people with disabilities developing, directing and facilitating services, together with helping others in the community understand disability issues.

............ Northcott Person Centred Newsletter • April 2013 • 10 ...........

Roselands Champions and facilitators celebrate the end of Roselands Champion Program.

Thanh, new Champion, being awarded

his certificate of appreciation by Silvana

Baute, Area Manager

Silvana with Aaron, new Champion.

"As a new Champion, I want to support others to have more confidence to speak up." Siobhan

"I now listen more clearly to other people's opinions. I'm less judgemental and more accepting." Thanh

"I want to be a motivator and I want people to approach me if they have suggestions of how services can be improved." Aaron


Mentor Program - Supporting Champions with their first steps

All Champions will have a Mentor to support them in their first steps as a Champion. The Mentor will provide four individual sessions of one-to-one mentoring. The Mentors are Champions themselves with at least two years’ experience of developing person centred practice and working as effective change agents.

Mentors and Champions met to discuss the Mentor Program and to establish how they would undertake individual mentoring sessions.

21

Mentoring Session Agenda

What are you pleased about?

• What is going well since our last meeting?

• What are you proud of?

• Anything to tell other people? Your friends, other people at Northcott?

What are you concerned about?

• What have your challenges been?

• What has not worked out well?

• What support or help do you need to keep going that you currently don’t have?

What have you tried?

• What have you tried regardless of whether it worked or not?

• Have you tried using any person centred tools?

• Have you put into practice any person centred values?

• Think about your talking with your family, friends or colleagues?

What have you learned?

• What have you learned over the past month about person centred practise?

• What are you going to do differently?

• What are your reflections?

• Anything you would like to share with other people?

What goals have we set?

• Looking now at your progress so far, what goals would you like to think about focussing on til our next meeting?

What next? • What are the next steps you can take? • How do you plan to go forward?

Mentor:

Mentee:

Date:

Prompts for Mentors

The tool ‘4+1’ has been adapted here for the Mentoring Program. This version is one for Mentors, with possible prompts to ask their Mentee Champions. A blank version has been developed for Mentors to use as a record of their Mentoring Session.


If you have any small example of people having greater choice, voice or control in their life or in the work place, we would love to tell others about it in our Newsletter – so please give me a call on 9890 0517 or email me on [email protected].

Thanks, Liz Hopkins.

Send us your great person centred news!

Northing About Us, Without Us!

The Living Life My Way Ambassador and

Champion initiative (featured on page one) reflects

the international disability rights movement’s

mantra, ‘Nothing about us, without us’. The

disability rights movement has fought to secure

equal opportunities and equal rights for people

with disabilities. Equality of rights and opportunity

underpin person centred practice.

National Disability Services will soon be rolling out

some Human Rights training across NSW. Look

out for details on NDS' website www.nds.org.au

person centred newsletter april 2013

Documents

person centred way

person centred practice

person centred tools

person centred ideas

person centred workertool

person centred values

greater person centred

new people