Support, mentor and facilitate a consumer to maximise
independence in a health or disability setting
23925 V1
Name ................................................................................
Careerforce reference number
.........................................
Support, mentor and facilitate a consumer to
maximise independence in a health or
disability setting. US 23925 Version 1
Level
3
Credits 6
This work is licenced under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial Licence.
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Support, mentor and facilitate a consumer to maximise
independence in a health or disability setting
23925 V1
4
Getting started
6
Understanding independence and interdependence
33 Maximising independence
39 Supporting learning
42 Supporting independence goals
44 Plans for learning/relearning
46 Maximising independence
48 Practical support
50 Developing a goal/learning implementation plan
62 Implementation of a learning plan
64 Preparing for learning
69Adaptations
70 Prompting or giving instructions
73Demonstrating
74 Strategies for learning the steps in a task
76 Monitoring and recording progress
78Evaluating
80 Boundaries at work
82 What is mentoring?
83Mentoring
96 The six senses of support work
98 Code of conduct
100 What is facilitation?
Name...............................................
Employer...............................................
NZQA number...............................................
Date...............................................
“All the answers in this workbook
were completed by me.”
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...............................................
Getting started
Welcome to
Support, mentor and facilitate a
consumer to maximise independence in
a health or disability setting:
one in a series of workbooks
especially developed for support
workers in the CPQ (Career
Pathway Qualifications).
How do I use this workbook?
• Use highlighters to identify
the important ideas.
• Take your own notes.
• Complete activities as you
go through the workbook
and write answers in the spaces
provided.
What will I learn about?
When you have finished this
workbook you will have learned
more about:
• Maximising independence.
• Supporting independence goals.
• Practical support.
• Preparing for learning.
• Developing a goal/learning
implementation plan.
• Evaluating.
Look before you leap!
Take the time to go through this
workbook before starting on the
activities. Read the sections and make
notes as you go.
4
• Mentoring.
Acknowledgements
This workbook has been designed to
support your learning and prepare you
for the unit standard assessments.
The contents of this workbook
include scenarios, learning activities
and activities for general health and
disability settings. They are not specific
to any setting and should be used as a
general guide for learning.
Careerforce would like to thank the
people who have contributed their time
and effort into each workbook in:
• Research and content validation.
• Advice and expertise.
• Testing of activities and
assessments and their personal
experiences.
And the people who have contributed a
human dimension to the workbooks.
• Code of conduct.
• Facilitation.
Support, mentor and facilitate a consumer to maximise independence in a health and disability setting
Careerforce – Issue 1.1 – March 2010
Getting started
Trainee assessment portfolio
The trainee assessment portfolio
contains assessed activities and
workplace verification, which must be
completed to meet the requirements
of the unit standard. These questions
or tasks must be completed by you
and signed by your workplace assessor
in order for you to be credited with the
unit standard.
Stop activities
You will also come across the
pencil in places where you are
asked to STOP (see the graphic on
the left) and record your current
knowledge or impressions, as a
reference point to return to later.
Careerforce – Issue 1.1 – March 2010
Learning activities
These help you understand the
content and will help you with
workplace verification tasks. The
instructions and answer panels for
learning activities have a light yellow/
orange background like this.
Pause and Rewind activities
Pauses are for summarising, questioning,
and reflecting as a reference point to
return to later. Rewinds take you back to a
PAUSE, STOP or TEST YOUR KNOWLEDGE
and give you an opportunity to add to,
change or validate some of your initial
thoughts and ideas.
Support, mentor and facilitate a consumer to maximise independence in a health and disability setting
5
Understanding independence and interdependence
Supporting consumers’ independence
Independence and interdependence
• Types of support needed.
• Factors that influence
dependency.
• Independence/
interdependence situations.
Supporting/maximising independence
Mentoring/facilitating for independence
• Gaining skills for
independence.
• Using mentoring/facilitation.
• Supporting independence.
• Roles/boundaries.
• Analysis of tasks.
• Team communication.
• Codes of behaviour.
• Making a plan.
• Preparing the environment.
• Strategies to help learning
for independence.
• Evaluation.
6
Support, mentor and facilitate a consumer to maximise independence in a health and disability setting
Careerforce – Issue 1.1 – March 2010
Before you go any further in this workbook, think about what you know about
independence and interdependence…
test your knowledge
What do you think is meant by the term independence?
Give an example.
What do you think is meant by the term interdependence?
Give an example.
What do you think are the differences between the terms independence and
interdependence?
Careerforce – Issue 1.1 – March 2010
Support, mentor and facilitate a consumer to maximise independence in a health and disability setting
7
Understanding independence and interdependence
The I.D.I cycle
People need differing degrees of support
throughout their lives.
Dependence
Reliance on others for support with everyday living. For
example, all babies require someone to feed, clothe,
bathe, house and change them.
Depende
nce
Interdependence
su
m
er
t from others
ppor
l su
a
u
ut
M
Co
n
ers
oth
m
fro
In
d
e
p
e
nd
Support, mentor and facilitate a consumer to maximise independence in a health and disability setting
8
No
su
p
po
rt
Independence
No support is needed for everyday living. For example,
most people are able to support themselves in the
activities required for daily living.
ot
h
s
er
Interdependence
A relationship in which one person looks to another for
mutual support. For example, family/whānau/friends.
liance on suppor
t fro
al re
t
o
T
m
ce
en
There are three types of support that everyone will experience
at sometime in their life:
Careerforce – Issue 1.1 – March 2010
Understanding independence and interdependence
In your role as a support worker you will
be working with people who:
• Will want to remain as independent as
they possibly can (ageing at home).
• Are temporarily dependent on your
support and the support of others such
as family—after an accident or illness.
• Are working towards being independent
after an illness.
This workbook looks at how support
workers can work to implement the
Service Delivery Plan (SDP) so that
people can:
• Reach their potential.
The role of a support worker is to
promote a person’s independence:
• Maximise and maintain a person’s
independence.
• Be involved in their communities.
• Feel supported.
• Live their own lives.
• Are working towards being more
independent so they can move to
another living environment such as
flatting with other people. (People with
sensory or physical impairments.)
Careerforce – Issue 1.1 – March 2010
Support, mentor and facilitate a consumer to maximise independence in a health and disability setting
9
Think about a consumer you are currently supporting. Use the definitions on page 8.
In what areas is this consumer independent, dependent and interdependent?
Independent
Dependent
Interdependent
Activity of life:
• Think.
Example—person in
a wheelchair.
• Communicate.
• Are reliant on the
wheelchair.
• Interactions
/socialisation.
• The wheelchair is
working correctly.
• Carry out their
preferences and
choices.
Had a stroke
—personal cares.
• Brushing teeth.
• Showering
/brushing hair.
• Getting help with
carrying out their
personal cares.
• Washing face.
• Saying how
they want their
personal cares
carried out.
10
Support, mentor and facilitate a consumer to maximise independence in a health and disability setting
PAUSEII
Careerforce – Issue 1.1 – March 2010
Independent
Dependent
Interdependent
Activity of life:
Activity of life:
Activity of life:
Careerforce – Issue 1.1 – March 2010
Support, mentor and facilitate a consumer to maximise independence in a health and disability setting
11
Understanding independence and interdependence
The consumer’s SDP will outline the
tasks and activities with which the
consumer needs support. Support
may be:
• Physical.
• Social.
• Emotional.
• Health related.
Rehabilitation
Rehabilitation is about restoring skills
following a health event or accident. The
word means “to make fit again”. Rehabilitative
support may be focused on:
Lifelong support
Lifelong support is the ongoing support given
to people throughout their lives. The level
of support may change over time. Lifelong
support may be focused on:
• Achieving a goal—returning to work
after an injury.
• Health needs—a chronic condition such
as a heart defect.
• Restoring function—learning to walk
after a stroke.
• Developmental needs—Autism
Spectrum Disorders.
• Maximising independence—learning or
relearning daily tasks and activities.
• Mental health needs—bipolar disorders.
• Disability needs—physical or cognitive
impairment.
People who use health and disability
services will be accessing the services for
different reasons. Support services will be
based on the person’s assessed needs.
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Support, mentor and facilitate a consumer to maximise independence in a health and disability setting
Careerforce – Issue 1.1 – March 2010
Understanding independence and interdependence
End-of-life support
End-of-life support is the range of supports
people need to function as they approach
death. The end-of-life support that is required
will vary with the individual. End-of-life
support may focus on:
• Progressive declining function and frailty.
• Palliative care which controls symptoms
rather than cures the condition—end
stage heart disease, advanced lung
disease, cancers.
• Quality of life—advancing dementia.
Short-term support
Short-term supports are those required by
a person for a short timeframe. People may
need support at different times in their life.
Short-term supports may focus on:
• Recovery from a health event or
accident—an operation.
• A change in personal circumstances—
death of a spouse.
• Rehabilitation (after a health event or
accident)—to return to a previous level
of functioning.
• Achieving independence.
Careerforce – Issue 1.1 – March 2010
Independent
Able to do things for yourself.
Interdependent
Able to do things with support from
others.
Dependent
May have choices but not able to do
everything for yourself.
Support, mentor and facilitate a consumer to maximise independence in a health and disability setting
13
Understanding independence and interdependence
Rights
Remember that consumers receiving health
and disability services have the right to:
• Be treated with respect.
• Be consulted about their wishes.
• Make choices about their health and
support needs.
• Be free from discrimination.
• Be fully informed about their options.
• Have services of a good standard and in
accordance with their SDP.
• Complain about their service or the
person(s) providing that service.
Dependence
Key factors that lead to dependence for
people with health or disability needs:
Reduced access to:
• Opportunities.
• Information.
• Building (physical)/accommodation.
• Transport.
• Services.
Activities and attitudes of others:
• Prejudice.
Independence
Factors that foster independence for people
with health and disability needs:
• Social networks.
• Choices.
• Stable health.
• Security and income.
• Fitness levels.
• Informal supports.
• Timely packages of care.
• Community involvement.
• Ignorance.
• Goals.
• Discrimination.
• Preventative health measures.
Their economic and social situation:
• Education.
• Health status.
• Assessment and early intervention/
treatment of treatable conditions.
• Responsiveness to changes in condition.
• Living arrangements.
• Finances.
• Family/whānau.
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Support, mentor and facilitate a consumer to maximise independence in a health and disability setting
Careerforce – Issue 1.1 – March 2010
Understanding independence and interdependence
Interdependence
Factors that foster interdependence for
people with health and disability needs:
Consumers may need help with:
• Access to involvement in social
interaction.
• Activities of daily living.
• Personal cares.
• Goal setting.
• Employment opportunities.
• Educational opportunities.
• Access to transport.
There are other factors that can hinder a person’s progress towards independence.
Fear
• Fear of having to cope without support
in the future.
• Fear of the consequences of not
achieving goals which might lead to
the need for residential care.
Pain
• Making physical effort can cause pain
when moving for people living with
arthritis.
• Inadequate pain relief for a chronic
condition can limit progress.
Grief
• Loss of a spouse or partner may slow
progress as the person works through
his/her grief.
Lack of motivation
• Failure to make progress can lead to
a sense of failure resulting in a lack of
motivation.
Mood
• Low mood and depression affect the
person’s ability to be motivated to
learn and re-learn.
Change
• Achieving independence may result
in a change of circumstances which
the person may not want—the
support worker may leave resulting in
loneliness.
When consumers feel they have some
control over their lives (called autonomy)
and can exercise their rights, they
are more likely to be independent/
interdependent.
Careerforce – Issue 1.1 – March 2010
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15
Understanding independence and interdependence
In our lives we all aim to be as
independent as possible although we
may be dependent/interdependent on
others at some time.
Autonomy is achieved when there is a
balance between interdependence and
independence.
Autonomy
Being independent and relying on yourself.
Self sufficiency
Autonomy
The ability to do things for yourself and care for yourself.
Self determination
The ability to determine your own future.
Dependence
Interdependence
om
ed
Fre
The freedom to make any choice from a wide range of available
options.
e
oic
ch
of
Se
lf s
uffi
cie
nt
Freedom of choice
Independence
Self determination
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Support, mentor and facilitate a consumer to maximise independence in a health and disability setting
Careerforce – Issue 1.1 – March 2010
Understanding independence and interdependence
A
Learning activity
Understanding the concepts.
Match the word in column A to the
definition in column B.
B
Self reliance
Autonomy
The capacity to live happily and
independently without anyone else.
A series of achievements and
consequences that are meaningful to
the person.
Packages of care
Reliance on oneself or one’s own
powers, resources.
Self sufficiency
Valued outcomes
A combination of services that cater
for the identified needs of a person.
The state of not requiring any outside
aid or support.
Careerforce – Issue 1.1 – March 2010
Support, mentor and facilitate a consumer to maximise independence in a health and disability setting
17
Understanding independence and interdependence
Post accident
Monday
Penny is 60. She was knocked off her
bike by a car as she was riding to work.
Penny broke her neck and her injury is
classified as incomplete tetraplegia.
18
Support, mentor and facilitate a consumer to maximise independence in a health and disability setting
It is three months since I came into the
Spinal Unit at Otara and tomorrow I will be
discharged. I am excited about leaving, but I
am a bit down, as leaving the security of the
Unit is a scary thought and I am afraid that
I will be so dependent on my husband. My
husband will be caring for me in the outside
world. I know this will put a great strain on
him, even with carers coming in to assist with
showering, dressing, cooking, changing my
catheter. Everything in a wheelchair becomes
a mission and I certainly find everything so
frustrating.
Careerforce – Issue 1.1 – March 2010
Friday
Wednesday
The first week was a very scary week and a
time of adjustment for all. To my husband I
seemed very demanding having had nurses
who came to me when I rang the bell for three
months, and now it was up to him to keep
answering my calls and doing things for
me all the time. If I want a hot drink, I have
to ask someone to make it; if I want to put on
a cardigan, I have to ask someone to help put
it on me. I feel an incredible loss of self, lack
of competence and the ability to do anything
for myself. I felt I was a burden and would
dissolve into tears all the time. I have a support
worker who plays a vital role in keeping me
going. She comes even if my husband is
home. She does all my intimate personal cares
for me. She understands my feelings and
frustration.
The support worker I have at the moment is
good. She is a tidy person and an organiser.
This saves great frustration for me. She has
organised things in the house so that I can
help myself do some tasks. She lays out hand
wipes and sterilises for me, she fills a bowl
with water for me to rinse my hands and
leaves a towel out for me to dry them. By that
time she has to go, but makes sure my phone
is near for emergencies. The afternoon support
worker also comes in for three hours. If my
hands have not managed to close off the urine
bag after emptying, there is often a mess to
clean up. Once this is done she feeds me a late
lunch, gives me a drink, washes the dishes
and works with me on some of the exercises the
physiotherapist has told me I have to do.
Careerforce – Issue 1.1 – March 2010
Support, mentor and facilitate a consumer to maximise independence in a health and disability setting
19
20
Friday
Monday
It is so frustrating being helpless and I get
very tearful quickly. People in the house and
support workers often just don’t realise how
every little obstacle carelessly left in my way
becomes a major incident—a chair left out,
jandals or shoes, an electric cord left so I can’t
get the wheelchair over it or things positioned
just out of my reach. The worst thing is lying
in bed when for some reason the bedclothes
have not been pulled up then realising you
can’t sit yourself up to reach them, and you
have to stay there freezing till another support
comes—maybe for hours.
I have had to learn new ways to do simple
everyday tasks and feel proud that I can now
make a hot drink if the support worker leaves
things ready for me. There will be more things
that I can do after the kitchen has been altered
to suit my needs.
On Monday the support worker takes me to
the shops to get what I need and this gives me
a chance to get out from the four walls that
are stifling me. It is lonely in the house after
being so independent. My great joy is my
physiotherapy sessions which I attend three
days a week at the Spinal Unit—it is both
familiar and secure for me and raises my
spirits which are often down since I have had
the accident. I also get to see some of my old
friends and talk to the staff.
Support, mentor and facilitate a consumer to maximise independence in a health and disability setting
Careerforce – Issue 1.1 – March 2010
What can Penny do independently?
What does Penny need support with?
What is it about the care, support and environment that enables
Penny to be as independent as possible?
What else do you think could be done to support Penny to be as
independent as possible?
Careerforce – Issue 1.1 – March 2010
Support, mentor and facilitate a consumer to maximise independence in a health and disability setting
21
Understanding independence and interdependence
Cognitive impairment
Ben has a mild intellectual disability and was
diagnosed with diabetes at age 3.
My name is Ben. Today Tania my support
worker came. My blood sugar was 25. She
nearly had a fit! I didn’t know what to do.
Tania supported me to ring the Diabetes Centre
and talk to the nurse. She told me to take more
insulin. I took 5 units of insulin. I feel better.
Today I went for a job at the Food Court. Some
kids from the school came in and they weren’t
very nice but the job coach told me to ignore
their behaviour. I will get paid next week. Tania
set up a bank account for me today. I also had
to sign the forms for the bank. I also changed
my sheets, then Tania helped me measure out
the powder and wash the sheets. I hung them on
the line to dry, it was hard.
Tuesday
Friday
Monday
Today we did a budget. I didn’t have enough
to pay the rent. We went to WINZ. The lady
has agreed to give me some help. Tania was
supporting me to get my licence. I can sit the
licence test by talking to the traffic officer,
because I am not very good at writing things
down.
22
Wednesday
Support, mentor and facilitate a consumer to maximise independence in a health and disability setting
Today we went out with all the people Tania
supports. We went out for lunch and I chose
McDonalds. I met some other people, they were
in wheelchairs. Tania helped me make healthy
choices about my food, so that my diabetes
does not get out of control.
Careerforce – Issue 1.1 – March 2010
1
What can Ben do independently?
2
What does Ben need support with?
3
What is it about the care, support and environment that
enables Ben to be as independent as possible?
4
What else do you think could be done to support Ben to be as
independent as possible?
Careerforce – Issue 1.1 – March 2010
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23
Understanding independence and interdependence
Declining function
Pearl is 87 years old. She lives in her own
home—a home she has lived in for the last 45
years. Pearl lives alone as her husband died 15
years ago.
Monday
Last weekend Pearl’s daughter Tracey took her
to the Royal New Zealand Ballet (Cinderella).
Pearl had a fantastic time. When Pearl went to her
weekly coffee group, she couldn’t recall the name
of the ballet or the group who performed the ballet.
Pearl’s daughter thought her mother coped
remarkably well for her age but had watched her
ability to care for herself and her home decline over
the past year. Pearl’s house used to be immaculate,
but lately she has not dusted the house, there are
dirty cups on the coffee tables, and there is a
damp dirty smell in the laundry which is where
24
Support, mentor and facilitate a consumer to maximise independence in a health and disability setting
the towels and damp washing have been left.
Pearl can still drive her small car to the library,
church and coffee group, but she is often late as
she gets lost on the way or turns up at the wrong
time or on the wrong day. Tracey noticed that
she needed to get a WOF for the car as it ran
out 3 months ago. She can manage a trip to the
supermarket, but lately she seems to double up on
grocery items, or buys things she does not need.
Pearl has asked Tracey to help with the dusting,
vacuuming, changing the sheets, hanging out
the washing and doing the shopping. She has
also asked Tracey to help her get a WOF for her car
and write a list of the grocery items she needs to
purchase each week. Tracey is pleased to support
her mother to be as independent as possible in her
home.
Careerforce – Issue 1.1 – March 2010
1
3
What can Pearl do independently?
What is it about the care, support and environment that
enables Pearl to be as independent as possible?
Careerforce – Issue 1.1 – March 2010
2
4
What does Pearl need support with?
What else do you think could be done to support Pearl to be as
independent as possible?
Support, mentor and facilitate a consumer to maximise independence in a health and disability setting
25
Understanding independence and interdependence
Long-term disability
Step 1
Sam is 30 years old. He has a mild Autism
Spectrum Disorder although he only received a
diagnosis when he was 12 years old.
Life for Sam was hard sometimes as he did
not like new situations, meeting new people or
any changes to his routines. He had difficulty
understanding others and what they wanted from
him. He had lived at home with his parents until
he was 27 but as they were now needing help and
support themselves they had decided to buy Sam
his own unit. With the support of “Maggie’s Care
Services”, the Autism New Zealand Society and
his extended family, Sam was doing quite well.
He had a small, paid part-time job of 10 hours a
week at the local library as well as his disability
allowance. Sarah his support worker came three
times a week to help Sam with his personal
cares, banking and budgeting (rent money for
26
Support, mentor and facilitate a consumer to maximise independence in a health and disability setting
Step 2
Step 3
Step 4
Careerforce – Issue 1.1 – March 2010
Step 5
example) and care of the unit such as cleaning,
his washing and ironing.
Step 6
Step 7
Step 8
Careerforce – Issue 1.1 – March 2010
Sam’s condition means he has difficulty with
understanding concepts such as ‘What comes
next?.’ For example, when doing the laundry the
steps in the process had to be thoroughly drawn out
on a board for him so he could clearly see what step
came next.
Most weeks Sam is able to do laundry. These
communication devices (such as the schedule board
he used to work out what comes next) had been
designed, updated and put in place by the Health
Care Professionals (HCPs) involved in his care and
they are working well.
Sam was dependent on the support he got from
Sarah. She explained changes in routine, and
helped set goals to support Sam
Support, mentor and facilitate a consumer to maximise independence in a health and disability setting
27
to understand his roster (hours to work the
following week), what to do with letters from
WINZ and helped him plan shopping, budgeting
and banking needs. Sam was independent in
making choices about what to eat, when to eat it
and how to cook it.
to enable him to make more decisions by himself.
At present, Sarah is working with Sam to help
him decide where he would like to go on holiday.
They have visited a travel agent together and
collected brochures about 3 places that Sam has
said he would like to visit.
However, he was interdependent in most of his
activities of daily living and coping in the world.
Without the support that Sarah provided, Sam
would not be able to function as well. Sarah
prompted Sam with the necessary tasks and steps
to achieve them, directed him to his schedule board,
and generally helped him live as independently
as possible.
Now they are talking about each place and
writing down the things that Sam can do there.
Soon, she thinks Sam will be able to decide on
his holiday destination. Although this has taken
quite a while, Sam will have been supported to
make his own decision.
Sam can make decisions by himself, so Sarah is
following the SDP prepared by the health care team
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Support, mentor and facilitate a consumer to maximise independence in a health and disability setting
Careerforce – Issue 1.1 – March 2010
1
What can Sam do independently?
2
What does Sam need support with?
3
What is it about the care, support and environment that
enables Sam to be as independent as possible?
4
What else do you think could be done to support Sam to be as
independent as possible?
Careerforce – Issue 1.1 – March 2010
Support, mentor and facilitate a consumer to maximise independence in a health and disability setting
29
Understanding independence and interdependence
End of life
Wiremu is 83 years old. He has terminal cancer
and is being cared for at home by his whãnau.
Over the past 3 years that Aroha had been
supporting Wiremu and his whãnau, she has seen
many changes in his ability to care for himself.
Currently Wiremu is totally dependent on the
care and support of his whãnau and support
worker. He needs help with all his personal care
and he is now eating small amounts. He needs
extra care so that he does not become dehydrated,
so Aroha has to make sure that his drink is
available when he wants it.
Wiremu is not able to get out of bed to go to the
toilet without assistance from another person. He
spends most of his day in bed now, and has little
energy. He sleeps a lot. Although he is so frail,
Wiremu still wants to be “in charge” and make
decisions about his health and wellbeing. He has
30
Support, mentor and facilitate a consumer to maximise independence in a health and disability setting
asked Aroha to make sure that his bills are paid,
his pets are fed and that his lawns and garden
are kept tidy. A few weeks ago, when Wiremu
had more energy, he and Aroha had discussed
the best way to organise things. Wiremu decided
that he wanted his whãnau and friends to be
involved, and they now share time with each other,
sharing memories of their times together, and
undertaking all the tasks that Wiremu needed
doing.
Aroha cannot be with Wiremu all the time, so
she has helped set up a roster with whãnau, so
that Wiremu is never left alone, and that he is
as comfortable as possible. The District Nurse
has also left a phone contact number if either
Aroha or his whãnau need extra advice or support.
By sharing the challenges of end-of-life care,
Wiremu’s physical and emotional needs are
better met.
Careerforce – Issue 1.1 – March 2010
1
What can Wiremu do independently?
2
What does Wiremu need support with?
3
What is it about the care, support and environment that
enables Wiremu to be as independent as possible?
4
What else do you think could be done to support Wiremu to
be as independent as possible?
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31
Learning activity
Think about the consumers that
you have read about earlier in this
workbook. Using the information
provided on pages 18 to 31 and using
the template on this page, tick the
correct box(es) for each example given.
Consumer
Learning activity/task
Penny
Post accident
Emptying the catheter bag
Dependent
Independent
Interdependent
Physiotherapy
Making a hot drink
Ben
Cognitive
impairment
Budgeting
Doing the washing
Getting a driver’s licence
Pearl
Declining
function
Writing a list of groceries
Driving to the supermarket
Housework
Sam
Long term
disability
Going on holiday
Cleaning, washing, ironing
Going to work
Wiremu
End of life
Getting out of bed
Making decisions
Paying the bills
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Maximising independence
Supporting consumers to maximise their
independence.
Most people want to have control over their
own lives. As their needs change, they want
to retain control over their lives for as long as
possible and as much as possible.
To ensure that this can happen, the services
that organisations offer are now more flexible
and responsive to meet the changing needs
and wishes of consumers.
As more consumers are living at home, and
there is better health care, people are more
likely to live longer. As a support person your
role may include working with the consumer’s
family/whānau, as well as with other support
workers and health professionals.
Maximising independence means
supporting consumers to utilise their
existing strengths to achieve independent
or interdependent living.
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Learning activity
Using a current consumer’s SDP
answer the questions on the right.
What are the consumer’s goals?
How do these goals relate to maximising the consumer’s independence?
What are the current strengths that will help the consumer to achieve independent living?
What do think are the benefits for the consumer?
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Why do you think it is important to a support consumers to maximise their independence?
What are your organisation’s policies and procedures relating to maintaining independence?
What are the benefits of supporting a consumer to be independent?
For the consumer?
For the consumer’s family/whānau?
For the community?
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Think about two different consumers you support, and complete the
questions below.
Consumer one
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
What
is the consumer’s situation?
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
What
is the goal of the support you are providing?
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
What
things can the consumer do independently?
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
What
things do you, and the consumer’s family/whānau and/or significant other support the consumer with?
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
You:
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Family/whānau:
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Significant
other:
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
What
supports does the consumer use to maintain/regain/promote independence for his/her:
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Physical
needs:
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Social
needs:
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Community
needs:
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Psychological
needs:
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Consumer two
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
What
is the consumer’s situation?
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
What
is the goal of the support you are providing?
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
What
things can the consumer do independently?
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
What things do you, and the consumer’s family/whānau and/or significant other support the consumer with?
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
You:
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Family/whānau:
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Significant
other:
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
What
supports does the consumer use to maintain/regain/promote independence for his/her:
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Physical needs:
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Social
needs:
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Community
needs:
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Psychological needs:
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Where do you find the information that
tells you about how you will support
the consumer with:
• Tasks:
What skills do you think you need to have when supporting your consumers to maximise their
independence?
•
•
• Goals:
•
•
• Activities:
•
What information tells you how you
should support the consumer to
maximise independence?
•
What do your organisation’s policies and procedures say about your involvement and
role in supporting your consumers to maximise their independence?
Involvement:
•
Role:
•
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Supporting learning
Your role
As a support worker, part of your job is to help
people to be as independent as possible. This
can be an exciting and rewarding aspect of
support work, especially when consumers
gain the confidence and skills they need to
function as independently as possible.
Part of your role to support consumers
may include assisting them to:
• Learn something new.
• Relearn a task that they were previously
able to do independently.
• Modify a task so that they are able to do
all or some of the task independently.
• Maintain function through using
adaptive devices. This may mean
learning, relearning or modifying a skill if
the device is to be used effectively.
Learning in the context of this workbook
refers to acquiring knowledge and skill to
undertake a task.
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Learning activity
Think about a situation where you’ve
had to identify a new task, work with
a consumer to relearn a skill, modify a
task or introduce an adaptive device to
support a consumer’s independence.
List those occasions in the table.
40
A new task
Relearned task
Modified tasks
Adaptive devices
For example:
For example:
For example:
For example:
Learning to use a
motorised scooter.
Putting on clothes in the
right order following a
stroke.
Changing the way the task
is done­—sitting down to
prepare vegetables for a
meal.
Using a wide grip handle
to turn on taps for a
person with reduced hand
strength.
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Supporting learning
Learning should not be a special
“one-off” event, but something that is
ongoing.
Ongoing learning
As people learn one thing it can build into
another. For example—people might learn
how to use a new motorised scooter, which
enables them to go into town to do their own
shopping with confidence, make their own
appointments and visit friends. By learning
to use the scooter, people have gained more
control over their life and become more
independent.
To ensure that learning is ongoing, interesting,
and effective we need to provide support
in a purposeful way. This helps to keep us
focused on what we are trying to achieve
(and what the person we support is trying to
achieve), and makes sure that we don’t leave
learning “to chance”. It also means checking
on learning progress.
Learning new tasks, modifying how
learning is done or relearning tasks,
should be well planned and in accordance
with the consumer’s SDP.
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Supporting independence goals
Learning outcome:
A learning outcome is a result that someone
wants to achieve at the end of the learning.
A plan of action for learning should:
• Have a clear outcome or goal.
• Be specific.
• Have all the necessary steps included.
• Be simple and understood by everyone
involved.
• Be achievable for the person.
• Be developed by/with the consumer’s
involvement.
Once you have identified the wishes
and aspirations of the person you support
you can help that person to identify a realistic
and achievable outcome that relates to these
wishes. It is important to focus on what the
person wants to achieve at the end of the
learning—this is the basis for the whole of the
plan. Sometimes this means that you need to
break down a large goal into smaller bits and
gradually work toward the large goal.
• Include opportunities to practise the skill.
A learning outcome is usually written so
that:
• It is focused.
• It is measurable.
• It explains the level of support that is
required to achieve it.
• It states a timeframe for completion.
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Supporting independence goals
For example—some people may wish to
stay in their own home rather than move
into a residential service after an illness
or accident. However, before they can
stay they may need to learn a new series
of skills, some of which might build on
each other, such as cooking, cleaning,
budgeting, or using assistive aids.
When choosing a specific learning outcome
(based on the wishes and aspirations you
have identified previously) it is important
to find out what is important to the person
you support and what is going to make a
difference to that person’s life. It can take
a long time and a lot of effort to learn
something new.
It is a good idea to start with something that
the person is motivated about and interested
in. If you can create a fun and interesting
learning environment the person you support
will probably be more willing to try other
things further down the track.
Aspiration/long-term goal—move out of
the family home into a supported flatting
situation.
• Initial step—be able to cook a meal.
• Next step—be able to do the
shopping.
• Next step—be able to do a budget.
• Next step—be able to the laundry.
Goal reached—move into supported
flatting situation.
Learning is about finding something that
the person really wants to do.
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Plans for learning/relearning
A plan for learning is written
• To provide a set of individual steps to be
achieved towards a goal or outcome.
• To help consumers to know what parts of
a task they can undertake themselves.
You should be aware of your
organisation’s policies and procedures
around how it develops the plans you are
to follow, as well as:
• To help support workers understand
their role in aspects of a task.
• What your expected input into the
plan is.
• For the consumer and support worker to
know the milestones towards achieving
the goal.
• What you are expected to report on.
• How and what you are expected to
implement from the plan.
You as a support worker need to know
• What you are supporting your consumer
to learn/achieve.
• The timeframes to achieve learning.
• What boundaries you need to work
within.
Measuring progress
So the person you support and the support
team can tell what progress has been
made and celebrate success. If progress
isn’t happening then you will know that
some changes need to be made.
Meeting the person’s need
Making sure you plan carefully and
know what that person needs in order to
succeed.
Reporting progress
(Where this is your role) at the times/
dates required.
Knowing what to do
When a plan is written it helps you know
what to do, so that you can be a confident
and effective support person.
Consistency
So that everyone supports the person in
the same way. This will help the person
reach his/her goal faster.
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Careerforce – Issue 1.1 – March 2010
Think about a person you support
Think about something you have supported
that person to learn.
What did you support the consumer to learn?
Now answer the following questions:
Careerforce – Issue 1.1 – March 2010
How did you meet this person’s need?
How did this help the consumer to become
more independent?
What support did you provide? How?
How could/did what the consumer learn be
built upon?
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Maximising independence
Support to maximise independence
The next few pages show some examples
of support which you may be required to
implement as part of a consumer’s SDP.
• Functional exercise programme.
• Practical support. For example—
preparing a meal, learning to use the
washing machine or budgeting.
Functional exercise programme
The exercise programme is developed by the
physiotherapist and multidisciplinary team.
For example—doing exercise, increasing
steps taken, walking to the letterbox.
As a support worker you assist consumers
to complete their exercises and incorporate
them into their activities of daily living.
Your overarching role is to support
consumers to achieve the goals and
identified in their SDP.
This means that you will need to give
feedback on progress. Your feedback
may be:
• Written—progress reports, marking off
a goal ladder, or other reporting systems
used by your organisation.
• Verbal—you discuss consumers’ progress
at a multdisciplinary meeting, or you may
support consumers to talk about their
achievements at a meeting.
Practical support
Practical support is the support you give
consumers to learn or re-learn a task or skill.
For example—using the vacuum cleaner,
washing machine, doing their personal cares.
Your overacting role is to support consumers
to achieve the goals and the steps identified
in their SDP.
Whatever support you are required to
implement, it is important to gauge the
progress consumers feel they are making
towards achieving the outcome detailed
in their SDP.
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Learning activity
Think about a consumer you are
currently supporting. Think about:
The consumer functional exercise programme.
• The consumer functional exercise
programme.
• The practical support you
provide.
And give an example of each as it
applies to the consumer.
The practical support you provide.
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47
Practical support
Re-learning a skill
Living independently on your own
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Practical support
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Developing a goal/learning implementation plan
Different people make different
contributions to the development of
a plan.
Who is involved?
Multidisciplinary Teams or Interdisciplinary
Teams will contribute to these plans.
For example:
• An Occupational Therapist (OT) may
contribute to the plan by designing the
activities the person needs to achieve
his/her goals and maximise skills and
abilities. OTs also provide adaptive
equipment.
• A physiotherapist may contribute to the
plan by designing the functional exercise
programme for the person.
• An Registered Nurse (RN) may contribute
to the plan by identifying, accessing,
planning, implementing and evaluating
the physical, social and emotional care
needs.
• The consumer’s family/whānau may
advocate the wishes of the person.
The family/whānau may also have skills
and qualities that they can offer to the
consumer.
• You as the support worker will be
working within the plan to achieve
the outcomes identified as important
by the Multidisciplinary Team and the
consumer’s whānau/family and the
consumer.
• The consumer’s goals and aspirations.
Goal/learning implementation plans are
often developed in consultation with a
number of people.
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Developing a goal/learning implementation plan
Developing a plan
The process
The steps involved in developing a
plan are outlined below and described
in more detail throughout the rest of
this workbook.
Select the
best strategies
Identify the
resources required
Identify a
learning outcome
Identify wishes and
aspirations
Prepare for learning
Implement the
learning plan
Give feedback
Evaluate
Make changes
as required
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Monitor and
record progress
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51
This scenario for Mrs Betty Smith has been
used to demonstrate what her learning
plan might look like. Read the scenario
and the following learning plan.
This model will help you to build your
own on pages 58–61. In your own
learning plan you will need to record the
reasons for your choices.
Mrs Betty Smith is a seventy-six-year-old
woman who had a stroke six years ago.
This stroke affected the right side of her
body and she has:
• Restricted use of her right hand—she
can use it to hold on to things
and stablise them, but has limited
strength.
• She walks without the use of a
walking aid but is unsteady on
uneven surfaces.
• Her speech slurs when she is tired.
Following her husband’s death
three years ago she has lived alone
in Christchurch in her two bedroom
townhouse with her small dog Rufus, who
is very important to her.
The Smiths were unable to have children
and the only close relative is Aunt Beth
who is 96 and lives in a specialised
dementia residential care service in a
town 30 kilometres away (Rangiora).
Three months ago Mrs Smith got
influenza and was confined to bed for
seven days. Following this event she has
been unable to catch the bus from the
bus depot, which is a ten-minute walk
away from her home, to see Aunt Beth.
When the bus gets to Rangiora, she has
another five-minute walk to get to the
home where her aunt lives. Mrs Smith has
noticed that since the period she spent in
bed:
Mrs Smith was recently seen by her
doctor for repeats on her medications
as she gets pain in her right shoulder
following her stroke. He was concerned
about the decline in her function, and
referred her to the Needs Assessment
Service for some assistance around the
home.
When assessed by the needs assessor, Mrs
Smith’s main goal is to be able to get to
the bus and travel to see her Aunt Beth.
• She tends to drag her right leg.
• She feels unstable on her feet and is
scared of falling.
• Her right shoulder has stiffened and
is painful.
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Name: Betty Smith
Assess date:
Review date
01-04-08
Key Support Person:
01-05-08
Goal:
To return to visiting Aunt Beth, walking to the bus stop and then travelling by bus to Rangiora, and return by 01/07/08.
Sub goals:
Walking to the bus stop with Support Worker by 01/05/08.
To be able to wash and dry dishes without holding on to the bench by 01/05/08.
Situation:
Right-sided weakness following stroke. Unable to walk to the bus stop following a period of bed rest. Unstable on her feet and scared of falling.
Choices
Preparing for learning
Resources required, set-up, best learning time, how often to
target the learning goal.
Adaptations
Changes to the environment, making the learning easier.
Careerforce – Issue 1.1 – March 2010
Reason for choices
• A system to monitor her progress with her mobility, for example—goals to
extend the amount and distances she travels over a period of time.
• To restore her functional ability. Work with a physiotherapist.
• Support to encourage her to be more active and build up her functional
strength, ability and confidence.
• Setting up her exercise programme for example—putting a chair at
extended distances each day, to increase how far she can walk.
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53
Prompts and instructions
Type of prompt to use, when to prompt, motivate,
complexity of instructions.
Steps in the task
Explain which strategies will be used:
54
•
One step at a time (forward or backward).
•
The whole task.
•
Steps out of order.
•
Demonstrating.
• No real instructions needed, but she may need prompts such as
• Watch for uneven services.
• Concentrate on picking up her right leg.
• Betty is able to walk without aids, she needs to continue to increase the
distance walked each day. Beginning by walking to the dairy to get paper
every day with dog.
• Extend the distance walked each day, aim to increase by one lamp post
every two days.
• Betty to do five sit to stand exercises three times a day to build strength in
her legs.
• Spend time with Betty working alongside her with her housework tasks
trying to get her to gradually:
—use her left hand less to stabilise herself for balance.
—Use her right hand more for activities like drying the dishes and
dusting—start working on activities at waist height and gradually work
at levels higher and lower—focussing on her balance at this time.
• Discuss trip and plan for when Betty goes to visit. Take Betty to the
supermarket so she can show you what sorts of things she enjoys baking
to take on her visits to Aunt Beth.
• Whilst baking—support Betty by encouraging her to use her right hand
as much as possible and reduce the amount of time she supports herself by
holding on to the bench.
Support, mentor and facilitate a consumer to maximise independence in a health and disability setting
Careerforce – Issue 1.1 – March 2010
Encouragement, reinforcement
Type of encouragement, when to use.
Feedback
How to give feedback, type of feedback, when to provide
feedback.
Other
Careerforce – Issue 1.1 – March 2010
• Use of chart that captures progress in walking distances.
• On the spot oral encouragement when achievements occur (as event is
occurring).
• Constructive feedback
• Today I noticed that…
• When you … this seems to be happening …
• Positive feedback (encouragement).
• Planning and goal setting.
• The next step could be “What do you think…?”
• Celebrate any successes.
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55
Developing a learning plan
Identify wishes and aspirations
Your organisation may develop the
learning plans that you have to follow.
However, there may be occasions where
you are required to teach a new skill or
you notice that something is not working
and you need to come up with an
alternative. If this is the case, the following
model could help you.
Identify a learning outcome
Select the best strategies
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Identify the resources required
Careerforce – Issue 1.1 – March 2010
Developing a learning plan
Implement the learning plan
Monitor and record progress
Evaluate
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Make changes as required
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Learning activity
Think about a consumer who you
are supporting and a new skill the
consumer would like to learn or an
existing skill that needs to be relearned. Write a brief description
about the consumer. Remember to
keep the consumer’s personal details
anonymous. Then write a learning
plan for that skill.
Write a brief description here to explain
the reasons why the consumer you are
supporting would like to learn a new skill
or needs to re-learn an existing skill.
Is the consumer being supported to:
Learn a new skill?
Re-learn an existing skill?
(Tick the box that applies to the
consumer.)
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Goal:
Sub goals:
Situation:
Choices
Reason for choices
Preparing for learning
Resources required, set-up, best learning time, how often to
target the learning goal.
Adaptations
Changes to the environment, making the learning easier.
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Prompts and instructions
Type of prompt to use, when to prompt, motivate,
complexity of instructions.
Steps in the task
Explain which strategies will be used:
•
One step at a time (forward or backward).
•
The whole task.
•
Steps out of order.
•
Demonstrating.
Encouragement, reinforcement
Type of encouragement, when to use.
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Feedback
How to give feedback, type of feedback, when to provide
feedback.
Other
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Implementation of a learning plan
Task breakdown:
A breakdown of the steps involved in a task.
The task can be broken down into large steps
or very detailed steps, depending on the needs
of the person you support.
62
Each time that you support the consumers
you may be required to complete a task
analysis—the task analysis will help you work
out what steps are involved in the activity.
The task breakdown is written so that you
support the consumer with the tasks and
you use the right steps consistently. It also
provides a place for you to record consumers’
progress, by checking how they are doing
with each step in the task.
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Careerforce – Issue 1.1 – March 2010
Implementation of a learning plan
Tips for a task breakdown
How to complete a task breakdown
Do a run through of the task yourself,
and make a note of each step involved.
Consider the level of detail required by
the person you support (big steps or
little steps)—make changes as required.
Ask someone to help you work through
the task from the perspective of the
person you support—see if the person
can do the task using steps you have
described. Make sure you haven’t
missed anything—make changes as
required.
Show the task breakdown to a colleague or your
supervisor—they might notice something you
have missed or that needs to be changed.
Always do a practice run—this will also help you
identify if there is anything you need to change.
Write the finished task breakdown on to
the goal/learning implementation plan.
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Preparing for learning
There are lots of things that can help
learning
Being prepared
Being prepared for the task means that you
need to:
• Know each person you support—find
out about what helps them learn best.
• Make sure the environment is right for
the task.
Know the person you support
Because everyone is an individual
everyone needs an individual goal/learning
implementation plan. It is important to find out
about each person you support so that you
know what is going to work best for them.
• Organise any resources that are needed.
• Prepare the person you support.
Each of these steps is discussed in more
detail below.
It is important to find out what the person
wants to learn and how they learn.
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Some of the things you need to find
out include:
Careerforce – Issue 1.1 – March 2010
Preparing for learning
To find out this information you could:
What helps people to learn easily?
Do they like to do things systematically and
try one part of a task before moving on, or
do they like to do the whole thing at once?
Do they do better if it is quiet, or if there
is some background noise? Find out what
makes learning easiest for them and try to
include those factors in the goal/learning
implementation plan.
What makes carrying out the task difficult
for them?
Try to avoid the things that make the task
difficult or find a way to adapt/change a
situation to lessen the difficulty. For example,
a noisy environment might be a problem for
some people, others might get tired easily if
a task is very physical; and others might find
it hard to work with a particular person that
they don’t get on with.
How long can they stay focused for?
You need to know how long someone can
stay focused on the task, and make sure that
you don’t expect too much. If the task activity
takes too long the person may get tired,
frustrated, stop paying attention, or not want
to take part next time.
Careerforce – Issue 1.1 – March 2010
What time of day do they have the most
enthusiasm and attention?
This is a good time to practise a new task/
learn. Try to avoid the times of day when
someone is tired.
What motivates them?
It’s good to know what encourages people
and makes them want to do things—you can
use this to help them with their learning. We’ll
talk more about this later in the workbook in
the section on Encouragement.
What frustrates them?
Try to avoid the things that make people so
frustrated that they want to quit. Learning is
supposed to be fun, not a chore.
Is there anything specific about their
condition that you need to consider?
For example, someone who uses a wheelchair
might need you to make sure that any tables
used in the learning are at the right height.
Or someone who has an Autism Spectrum
Disorder might need to know exactly what
to expect during the learning activity so that
they don’t feel anxious.
Ask the people you support to let you know
what works for them—some people will easily
be able to give you this information, and will
probably be more motivated to take part if they
have been included.
Look at the person’s individual plan or file.
Ask others who know the person well what has
worked well in the past.
Look at previous goal/learning implementation
plans to find out what strategies worked well
and what didn’t. The “learning notes” section
could be useful to look at.
Observe the person doing everyday activities
and take note of how tasks are approached and
what seems to work well for the person.
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Preparing for learning
Make sure the environment is right for
learning
A good learning environment is important if
you want learning to be successful.
Encouragement
You need to be a positive person to be
around so that you can encourage the
people you support to take risks and have a
go. Remember that the people you support
might have had bad experiences of learning
before—they might need their learning to be
extra-fun before they will want to take part.
They may be scared that they are not strong
enough or don’t have the ability to do the
task. The task may cause them pain, or it may
take them out of their comfort zone.
Good relationships
Develop a good relationship with the people
you support and be respectful. People lose
confidence if they feel intimidated, anxious, or
unhappy.
Frustration
Stop if frustration creeps in—you can start
again later!
Celebrate success
Find ways to be successful at every teaching
opportunity and reward success too. Look for
what the person you are supporting is doing
well and let the person know about it.
Remove distractions
Try to get rid of any distractions—
for example, turn off the television
or radio, choose a time when you won’t
be interrupted.
Offer praise when the person does well, or
attempts something new.
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Careerforce – Issue 1.1 – March 2010
Preparing for learning
Tips for preparing for learning:
Organise any resources that are needed
There are lots of different kinds of
resources that you might need to prepare
before implementing the goal/learning
implementation plan. The exact resources
required will depend on the needs of the
person you support.
Be prepared
Make sure that all of the items required for
the task are available. For example, if the
task is about cooking, check that all of the
ingredients are in the kitchen and the pots/
cutlery you require are clean. If the task
is mowing a lawn, make sure that there is
enough petrol for the mower.
Fill out a goal/learning implementation
plan
Complete the actual goal/learning
implementation plan forms so that everyone
involved knows exactly what to do.
Support materials
Develop any support materials that might
be needed. For example, a recipe with
photographs of each step in the task; adding a
picture of the task to the person’s usual visual
schedule so that they know when they will
be doing the task; or writing a list of steps in
the task for the person you support to follow
themselves (if they are able to read).
Careerforce – Issue 1.1 – March 2010
Make sure that you have resources, equipment
and the room to carry out the activity before
you start.
Think of all the different ways in which you
can encourage, motivate and support positive
learning.
Develop strategies you can use when you or
your consumer start to feel frustration creep in.
Keep instructions clear, simple and relevant.
Have the expected outcome of the activity
displayed in a visual form.
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Preparing for learning
Prepare the person you support
Make sure that the person is ready to take part
in the learning.
Regularly discuss learning outcomes
Talk to the person you support regularly about
the chosen learning outcomes—go back and
look at their copy of the individual plan or
goal/learning implementation plan to remind
the person about it. It’s hard to stay motivated
and interested in a goal if no-one mentions it
or encourages you.
Schedule time to learn
If there is going to be a specific time to focus
on the learning outcome make sure to include
it in the person’s schedule. If the person has
a visual schedule you will need to take a new
photo or develop a new picture for it.
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Explain the task
At the beginning of the task explain what
is happening so that the person you are
supporting knows what to expect. You may
need to say how long it will take, and what
will happen when the person finishes.
Purposeful, but not formal
Learning should be purposeful but it doesn’t
have to be formal. Rather than saying “now it’s
time for working on your learning outcome”
you could instead say “let’s go and do some
cooking”, or “if you’ve got a minute I’d love
you to help me with the lawns”.
Careerforce – Issue 1.1 – March 2010
Adaptations
Examples of adaptations
Adaptation:
Changing something so that it is easier for
someone to do.
Many of the people you support will
have difficulty completing a learning task
from start to finish without it being adapted
in some way. This is particularly true for
people who have intellectual or physical
disabilities. Their disability might limit the
way that they can think, remember, or move.
Cutting up the vegetables is not going well for
Doris so a potato peeler and a smaller knife are
needed.
By adapting a task you make it more
likely that the person will succeed—some
adaptations can be large, while others might
be very small. The kind of adaptation you
choose, if any, depends on the needs of the
person you support. Some people will not
need a task to be adapted at all.
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Prompting or giving instructions
Prompts can be:
Prompting:
Something that you do to remind the
consumer what to do next.
Verbal
Saying something as a
reminder.
Physical
Touching or showing as a
reminder.
Visual
Showing an object/picture/
photo as a reminder.
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Careerforce – Issue 1.1 – March 2010
Verbal
Saying something as a reminder. Verbal prompts work well for many people,
but it is important to think carefully about what you will say and how complex it
will be. Match what you say to the person’s level of understanding. It can be useful
to plan your verbal prompts so that everyone says exactly the same thing each
time. You can write these on to the goal/learning implementation plan.
Physical
Touching or showing as a reminder. Sometimes it is useful to use touch
as a reminder, especially for people who have difficulty understanding spoken
language or who learn best if they are shown what to do. For example, if someone
is having difficulty opening a can of food you could put your hand over the top
of the person’s hand to show what to do (if this is acceptable to the consumer).
Or you could touch the part of the can opener to show the consumer which part
he/she needs to move.
Visual
Showing an object/picture/photo as a reminder. Some consumers are good
visual learners and find it easiest to learn by looking at pictures. For these people
you will need to prepare the visual reminders in advance so that they are available
when they are needed. The types of visual reminders used should be based on
what you know the consumer can make sense of.
Careerforce – Issue 1.1 – March 2010
Tips for reminders
WAIT—give people a chance to do things
themselves and remind them only when they
need it. If you remind people too quickly you
don’t give them a chance to learn, or take a
risk. We learn by making mistakes, so it’s ok for
people to get things wrong.
Use the learning record section of the goal/
learning implementation plan to record when
you have used reminders—this will help you
know when to wait, and which steps to try not to
use prompts for.
If you have to remind someone over and over
again, perhaps you need to think about making
a change to their plan. Perhaps the way they are
being taught is not meeting their need, or the
task might need to be adapted so that they can
manage it more easily.
Your goal/learning implementation plan should
include a “key” which explains how to record the
person’s progress on the learning record.
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Prompting or giving instructions
Achievable tasks
When learning a new task or reinforcing
learning it is important to make the task
achievable. This may mean:
• Talking to the consumer about the task or
activity before starting.
• Using verbal or visual prompts.
• Reminding the consumer what the next
step will be.
Which types of reminders?
During your preparation for learning it is
important to get a sense of the type of
reminders that will work for the consumer you
support. Sometimes you will use more than
one type of reminder at a time. For example,
you might remind someone by saying what
to do next and showing the person at the
same time.
When a consumer is new to a task you will
do the most reminding. Over time you should
aim to remind the consumer less often. By
keeping a record of the consumer’s progress
you will know which stages of the task
require the most reminders and will be able
to see what happens if you don’t remind the
consumer.
Remember that patience is essential.
Just as important is giving the person
you support positive feedback on the
things he/she is doing well.
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Careerforce – Issue 1.1 – March 2010
Demonstrating
Tips for demonstrating
Demonstrating:
Showing someone what to do.
Sometimes demonstrating is called
“modelling”.
Most people learn best when they have seen
or experienced what they are supposed to
be doing. It can be helpful to demonstrate,
or show people, how to do a new task before
they try it. Some people might need you to
show them some parts of the task (or the
whole thing) every time that they do the task.
Other people might only need you to show
them the first time they try something, or not
at all.
Do the task the way the consumer you support
is going to do it.
Be consistent—do it the same way each time so
you don’t confuse the consumer.
Practise on your own before you demonstrate,
to make sure you have thought about it carefully
and can do it well!
Decide what words you will use to explain what
you are doing.
You can demonstrate by having the consumer
join you while you do the task at the usual time
and in the usual place—it can be very informal.
If the consumer you support is struggling with
a particular part of the task you could say “I’ll
show you an easier way to do that” or “you’ve
almost got it, try it again like this”.
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Strategies for learning the steps in a task
Strategies for learning steps in a task:
Strategies are ways of learning the steps in
a task. Different strategies will suit different
people.
When a task breakdown has been completed,
and you can easily identify the steps involved
in a task, you then need to consider how to
approach the learning task. There are several
ways of doing this, including focusing on:
• One step at a time.
• The whole task at once.
• Working forwards.
You will only choose one of these strategies,
depending on the preferences, skills, and
support needs of the consumer you support.
Each of these strategies is described in more
detail in the following sections.
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One step at a time
This means learning one step and then
adding the next step, and so on. Sometimes
this strategy is also called “chaining” or
“snowballing”, and can be done either
forwards or backwards.
This strategy is useful when:
• The consumer you support learns
best by focusing on small amounts at a
time.
• The consumer you support finds it hard
to concentrate for long periods.
• The consumer you support would find
it difficult to learn the whole task at one
time.
Careerforce – Issue 1.1 – March 2010
Tips for strategies
The whole task at once
This means learning all steps in the task at once,
starting at the first step and providing support/
teaching with all of the following steps.
This strategy is useful when:
• The task is not too complicated or
lengthy.
• The consumer you support is keen to try
the whole task.
• The consumer you support will be able
to concentrate for long enough to do the
whole task in one go.
• The consumer you support has a good
memory and will not be confused by
having to focus on all of the steps in
the task.
Careerforce – Issue 1.1 – March 2010
Working forwards
1 Start by learning step one in the task, then
wait until it has been learnt.
2 Do the first step then add step two in the
task, then wait until it has been learnt.
3 Do the first two steps, then add step three,
then wait until it has been learnt.
Find out how the consumer you are working
with learns best. It could be:
• By doing.
• By watching.
• By listening.
• by his/her self
• Alongside someone.
4 Continue until all steps have been learnt.
Determine how many instructions or steps the
consumer you are supporting can take on board
at any time.
Build up a task slowly, with lots of feedback and
encouragement.
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75
Monitoring and recording progress
Understanding how the consumer is
progressing is important. It is essential
that this progress is noticed and
recorded so that plans can be kept up to
date, relevant and achievable.
It may take several weeks or months for
consumers you support to achieve their
learning outcome. During that time you will
probably have supported them to practise
their task/skill many times. To make sure that
you are supporting them in the best way, and
that the plan is working, it is important to
monitor and record what is happening. The
learning record section of the goal/learning
implementation plan will help you to do this.
There may be other forms of recording that
you will be expected to do in your workplace.
For example, there may be a form to complete
to record progress on individual plan goals.
Your organisation will have policies and
procedures about recording and monitoring
progress. If you are unsure of what your
organisation’s policies and procedures are you
should talk to your supervisor.
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Tips for monitoring and
recording progress
You don’t need to keep a record every day, but
keep a mental note and make a recording on
paper every few sessions.
Your whole support team needs to agree how
often to keep a written record.
Be sensitive with recording. It’s off-putting to
have someone standing by and writing down
what you are doing—it alters how someone
performs almost every time, makes people
nervous and isn’t helpful. You will probably be
able to remember what happened and then
record later, or have the consumer you support
help you do the recording.
Keeping a record will help you work out when
you need to make changes. For example, if
you notice that there is no progress, or there
is a pattern of errors, you may need to adapt
something, change the prompts you are using,
or simplify the task. Your record may also help
you recognise when the consumer has made
really quick progress and needs more of a
challenge!
Careerforce – Issue 1.1 – March 2010
Learning activity
Answer the following questions about
monitoring and recording progress in
your organisation.
How does your organisation expect you to record/document the progress of the consumer
you are supporting?
Is there a format you have to follow? If so, what is it?
Where do you record/document this progress?
How does what you record impact on the consumer’s goal/learning implementation plan?
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Evaluating
At the end of the teaching programme
you should consider what went well,
what you could change next time, and
what the consumer you support wants
to do next!
Evaluate yourself and your
teaching style
What do you think you did well, and what
could you improve on in the future? It is
useful to reflect on your own practice.
Ask other people for feedback
This helps you to learn and develop your
own skills.
Evaluate the teaching plan
What worked well for that consumer, for that
goal, and what wasn’t so great?
Evaluate the impact that the learning had
for the people you support
Has it made a difference to their life? What do
they think about it?
Consider where to next…this is not the end
but just the beginning.
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Careerforce – Issue 1.1 – March 2010
Learning situation:
You
Learning activity
Think about a time when you
evaluated the programme of one
of your consumers.
Fill in the table on the right based
on this evaluation.
The consumer you support
What things worked well?
What things would you have done differently? Why? How?
How did you use what you found out to update/change/make more relevant the goal/learning
implementation plan?
How did you find out what your consumer thought about the plan, rate of progress and learning, and
how did you implement the plan?
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Boundaries at work
To work within your boundaries is to
work within the limits of your role at
work. In other words it means to know
the limits of your responsibilities.
What are boundaries at work?
Working within your boundaries means that
you only provide support which you have
been trained for. Having boundaries means
you know the limits of your responsibilities
that will help you feel safe in your role and
keep your consumer safe. You know where
your role in the workplace ends and someone
else’s begins. Working within your boundaries
may also be called your “scope of practice”.
For example, your role is to support your
consumer as described in your job description
and the consumer’s SDP, but your supervisor
also supports the consumer with different
tasks according to this plan. Your supervisor
has been trained to carry out different
tasks for the consumer and has different
boundaries from the support worker.
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Is this part of your role?
If everyone in your team understands
what to do and how and when to do it,
then each team member will feel safe in
their role.
Careerforce – Issue 1.1 – March 2010
What do your organisation’s policies and procedures, your job description and the consumer’s SDP
say about your role in maximising the consumer’s independence?
Supporting the consumer to maximise independence.
Job description
A consumer’s SDP
Organisation’s policies
and procedures
Functional exercise
Practical support
Reporting outcomes
Task breakdown
Teaching skills
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81
What is mentoring?
What is mentoring?
Mentoring is a process of one person offering
support, guidance, and advice to another over
a period of time. A mentor has knowledge
and experience in an area and “walks along
beside” another person to support them in
their efforts. In consumer centred care, for
example, an experienced support worker
may mentor another support worker, or a
support worker may support and encourage a
consumer.
• A mentor is a guide who can be
trusted and is interested in helping
people to achieve their goals.
• A mentor is someone who can see
the big picture and can encourage,
motivate and inform another person
and give feedback and celebrate
success with the person who is being
supported.
• A mentor is someone who can see
the other person’s point of view.
• Mentors do not impose their point
of view on another person and/or
assume they know best.
• A mentor has a positive attitude.
• A mentor has a professional and
responsible approach to the
worker role.
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Careerforce – Issue 1.1 – March 2010
Mentoring
Consumer centred care
A mentor provides consumer centred care to
motivate, encourage, celebrate, inform, and
give feedback by:
The principles and values of consumer
centred care are that every consumer:
• Has strengths, gifts and contributions to
make.
• Respecting the dignity of each consumer.
• Has hopes and dreams.
• Including the consumer in planning
stages.
• Is the expert on his or her own life.
• Ensuring the consumer’s hopes, dreams
and goals are linked to the person’s plan
and the consumer’s independence is
supported.
• Needs to have own choices and
preferences considered and respected.
• Has the ability to make choices.
• Supporting community connections.
• Valuing the consumer’s life story and
making sure it is read by others.
• Asking questions of the consumer being
supported and taking the time to listen
to the answers.
• Listening with an open mind and without
hurrying.
• Providing opportunities to participate
in the decisions which affect consumers’
lives.
• Listening to consumers’ views about the
services they want and need.
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83
Learning activity
Read through the definitions and
scenarios then write your own example.
What does motivate mean?
What does encourage mean?
To motivate someone is to inspire and
encourage a person and give that person
a reason to do something.
To encourage is to give someone the
confidence to do something; to stimulate
someone by approval and support.
Jack really wanted to go to his grandson’s
wedding in Invercargill. But he had not
been too well of late. Sarah the support
worker got out the family photos and the
pictures of the new great-grandson. This
really inspired Jack to ask a family member
for help.
Jack did not feel comfortable asking for
help. It was not something people in his
family had done much of because they
believed in being independent. Sarah
gave him the confidence to ask, pointing
out that the other person was going to
Invercargill anyway and had helped in
the past.
Your example:
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Your example:
Careerforce – Issue 1.1 – March 2010
What does celebrate mean?
What does informing involve?
What is feedback?
To celebrate something means to praise,
positively acknowledge or honour a
person’s achievements.
To inform means to give information or to
tell someone something so that person
can become more knowledgeable.
Feedback is the information given in
response to a question, idea or something
recently attempted.
Sarah knew that Jack was not experienced
at asking for help. For Jack who had been
through two wars and had been self
sufficient all his life, asking for help was
like displaying a weakness. When he rang
his nephew to ask for a ride to Invercargill,
Sarah and Jack went out to celebrate at
the Working Men’s club for lunch.
Sarah used her knowledge of Jack’s
family (how they had offered to help and
were going to Invercargill). She used her
communication skills to share essential
information with Jack on how to ask for
help.
Jack asked Sarah what she thought he
should say on the phone. They had a role
play with Sarah pretending to be the other
person. Sarah gave feedback on his phone
manner.
Your example:
Your example:
Your example:
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85
Mentoring
M
E
C
I
F
86
Motivate
To motivate someone is to inspire and encourage a person and give him/her a
reason to do something.
Encourage
To encourage is to give someone the confidence to do something; to stimulate
someone by approval and support.
Celebrate
To celebrate something means to praise, positively acknowledge or honour
a person’s achievement.
Why mentor?
There will be benefits for the person doing
the mentoring.
• You will get satisfaction.
• You will learn things as a member within
a multidisciplinary team.
• You will be able to share the knowledge
you have as a support worker.
• You will be able to use effective caring
and communication.
Informing
To inform means to give information or to tell someone something so that
person can become more knowledgeable.
Feedback
Feedback is the information given in response to a question, idea or something
recently attempted.
Support, mentor and facilitate a consumer to maximise independence in a health and disability setting
Careerforce – Issue 1.1 – March 2010
Learning activity
Think of a consumer you are
supporting. How might the MECIF
model be used to support the
consumer’s goals and aspirations? Fill
in the boxes. Encouraging
Informing
Celebrating
Feedback
Motivating
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87
Mentoring
What does a mentor do?
A mentor works with the sets of
goals of the consumer the mentor is
supporting to encourage independence
or interdependence. For example—the
first goal on Jim’s SDP is to increase
his exercise. The physiotherapist has
identified 3 functional exercises for Jim
to work towards. The functional exercise
goals are supported by small steps such as
going out to the letterbox to get the mail,
or going over to the mall to get some
groceries with his frame.
A mentor teaches a person about short
achievable steps towards long term
goals. For example—Elsie’s goal ladder
includes preparing herself four meals a
week to put in the freezer and increase her
independence.
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A mentor encourages a positive outlook
and motivates a person to achieve success
towards a situation or goal. For example­—when Kim the support worker gave Dan
feedback on his first art project he was
encouraged and motivated to
attend the next class.
A mentor encourages participation in
events that the consumer may at first not
feel comfortable with. For example—Dan
wants to hold an art exhibition but first he
needs to attend art classes with
other people.
Support, mentor and facilitate a consumer to maximise independence in a health and disability setting
A mentor talks to the person regularly
about what the person wants to achieve.
For example­—Elsie’s support worker
reassesses how she is coping with meal
preparation. Each day she visits with
Elsie to make sure that she is achieving
her steps and to give her feedback and
encouragement.
A mentor provides information and
shares the knowledge the mentor has as
a support worker. For example—Kim was
able to use her knowledge of services
available in the community to support
Dan’s need for social interaction.
Careerforce – Issue 1.1 – March 2010
Mentoring
What are the qualities a mentor may
need?
The CAPIO model of mentoring qualities.
C
I
A good Communicator—a good
listener, clear in the answers that
are given.
Inspiring—demonstrates
enthusiasm and is positive,
encouraging and empowering.
Careerforce – Issue 1.1 – March 2010
A
Approachable—is kind, patient,
respectful, responsive to questions.
O
P
Professional—has ethical
behaviour, honest, knowledgeable
about services, own organisation,
own organisational policies and
procedures.
Open minded—non judgemental,
open to different ways of achieving
a goal that suits the person.
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What are the organisational policies and procedures around mentoring in your organisation?
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PAUSEII
Careerforce – Issue 1.1 – March 2010
What are the professional boundaries you as a support worker have to work within?
What are the ethical codes and standards you must be aware of in relation to your role as a
support worker?
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Learning activity
Read through the scenario and answer
the questions on the following page.
Mary had been working for “Eastgate
Care Services” for 3 years. She
really liked her job and recently her
supervisor asked her if she would like
to go on a course about mentoring.
Before Mary went to the course she
did not know how it could be useful to
her in her role as a support worker but
after discussing it with her family she
decided to attend.
During the course she learned that
mentoring could help to support
consumers’ goals and dreams and
could also help them to maintain or
even increase their independence. She
thought of Faye who had not been at
all well recently.
She had been supporting Faye with
housework and shopping for the past
4 months and was aware that one of
Faye’s goals within the SDP was to
start doing her china painting again.
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Faye who had been a wonderful
china painter over the years of her
retirement from teaching had not had
the energy to do china painting or the
ability to sit still for long periods any
more. Mary knew Faye longed to get
back to it but was just too exhausted
with getting well most of the time.
After the seminar on mentoring Mary
approached Faye to ask her about
getting back into china painting.
Mary got out some of Faye’s old china
painting and some of the cards and
postcards Faye had saved over the
years intending to paint them on to
china.
She got out the china painting books
and inspired Faye to think about
attempting some painting. Mary
suggested Faye did her one hour a
day of china painting in the mornings
when she had the most energy.
Careerforce – Issue 1.1 – March 2010
Faye felt quite motivated after looking
back at her old attempts and the
beautiful cards and postcards she
had saved. Mary offered to go to the
library for Faye to get some more
books and also purchased a new china
painting brush because Faye’s very
young grandson had chewed the end
off her old one!
She gave advice about how to get
started and with the help of the multi
disciplinary team (MDT) broke down
the goal on the SDP to much smaller
and achievable steps. Mary called
this “the 3As”. Mary asked, she gave
advice and broke the task down into
achievable steps.
Mary felt that Faye had a wonderful
talent and told her so. When Faye
sat the first time and painted for just
over the hour they celebrated with
morning tea on the cups and saucers
Faye had painted long ago.
Mary decided to use the frameworks
the mentoring expert shared in the
seminar. Firstly she decided to ask
Faye what she wanted. Mary did not
assume she knew best.
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93
1
Identify how Mary encouraged,
motivated, informed, gave feedback
and celebrated Faye’s attempts at her
goals.
94
2
What frameworks did Mary find
helpful? Explain.
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3
Using the MECIF model (page 86),
explain how Mary mentored Faye.
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4
Re-read the scenario. List the steps using the
Step 1
goal ladder that you think would be appropriate
in supporting Faye to help her reach her
identified goal?
5
Where on the ladder does the MECIF
model fit?
Step 2
Step 3
Step 4
Step 5
Step 6
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95
The six senses of support work
People need a sense of belonging, fulfilment
and purpose. The following table highlights
some of the senses that support workers and
the people they support need. Mentoring
people can help them to become the best
they can.
A sense of security.
For consumers this means that they need
to feel safe and free from threat, pain or
discomfort. It also means that they live as
independently as they are able.
For support workers this means being free
from physical threat or censure; to have
secure conditions of work; and to work within
a supportive culture.
A sense of continuity.
For consumers this means recognition of
their life history and life experiences and their
knowledge of the past.
For support workers this means a positive
experience of working with the people
they are supporting,exposure to good role
models, and good environments of care and
support.
A sense of belonging.
For consumers this means that they have
opportunities to form meaningful social
interactions and relationships and to feel part
of a group or community as desired.
For support workers this means feeling part
of a team with a recognised contribution.
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Careerforce – Issue 1.1 – March 2010
The six senses of support work
A sense of purpose.
For consumers this means opportunities to
engage in a purposeful activity and to be able
to achieve goals and challenging pursuits.
For support workers this means having a clear
set of goals.
A sense of fulfilment.
For consumers this means there are
opportunities to meet meaningful and valued
goals and to feel satisfied with their efforts.
It also means having their strengths
acknowledged and valued.
For support workers this means being able to
provide quality care and to feel satisfied with
their efforts.
A sense of significance.
For consumers this means they like to feel
valued as people of worth and that they
“matter”.
For support workers this means that the
type of support work they do is valued and
important and that their work and efforts
matter.
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Code of conduct
A code of conduct usually focuses on
ethical and responsible ways of behaving.
It provides a set of rules to guide your
behaviour and decisions.
Support workers are expected to
behave in ways in which they:
• Respect each consumer as an
individual.
• Are respectful to their employer,
co-workers and consumers.
• Do not act outside the legal limits of
their role, or the organisation’s policies
and procedures.
• Act in a responsible way at all times.
• Do not undertake tasks for which they
have not been adequately trained or
prepared.
• Pass on concerns and information to
the organisation in a timely way.
• Carry out the instructions of the SDP to
the best of their ability.
• Consider the needs, desires and wishes
of consumers when supporting them.
• Act honestly and fairly at all times.
• Keep consumer information
confidential.
• Work safely at all times and according
to the organisation’s policies and
procedures.
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Careerforce – Issue 1.1 – March 2010
What do you know about facilitation?
What qualities might a facilitator need?
Would you make a good facilitator? Why or why not?
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99
What is facilitation?
What is facilitation?
Facilitation is a process that helps individuals
and groups to identify a problem, issue or
challenge and make decisions about the
best way to move forward. Facilitation helps
people to accomplish a desired outcome
or goal.
What skills does a facilitating person
need?
• Work as a team member.
• Ensure that all the members who are
involved in the discussion are heard.
• Listen to what people are saying.
Listening
You need to make sure people know
that you are listening. For example—by
nodding and smiling or repeating back
what you think you have heard to make
sure you have understood.
• Keep people focused by staying on track.
• Have positive body language.
• Find out what people want.
• Make time for people.
• Allow people to have dreams and goals.
• Acknowledge when people are making
progress towards their goals.
Questioning
You can question by starting a
conversation with “Tell me how you…” or
“Tell me why you…” or “Tell me about…”.
This helps to give more information than
closed questions where the person gives
only “yes” or “no” answers to questions.
Giving and receiving feedback
Although feedback about someone’s
abilities or goals needs to be honest, it
also needs to be kind and diplomatic.
Act as a facilitator to enable consumers to
maximise their independence.
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Feedback needs to be consumer centred.
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What does your organisation say about facilitation within
your organisation?
Check your organisation’s policies and procedures and any other requirements of your
organisation, on your role as a facilitator.
Interview your supervisor.
What is your supervisor’s understanding of facilitation and where your facilitation skills
might be most useful?
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101
Learning activity
Read through the scenario and answer
the questions on the following page.
Dan had recently moved to a
supported independent living
arrangement with 2 other people.
He was very excited because he had
achieved his first goal and finally had
“gone flatting” just like his big brother.
Although he had had to learn many
new skills at his age, it was going well
for him.
Dan had a part-time job in the local
mall in the food court. However, his
dream (and the second goal on the
Service Delivery Plan that had been
designed and planned with the
Supervisor and Registered Nurse from
the Multidisciplinary Team [MDT]),
was to have an “art exhibition”. Kim
who had been supporting Dan for
3 months through “Woodham Care
Services” now believed it was time to
facilitate his goal and put his second
goal in place by breaking it down into
manageable steps for Dan.
Dan and Kim sat down together and
Kim discussed the idea of having some
art classes at the Adult Education
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Centre. At first Dan was reluctant but
when he and Kim went to meet the
tutor and see where the classes would
be held, and how he would get to
them independently, he felt a bit safer
about the whole thing. Kim was aware
that attending classes with strangers
was a big move for Dan and he had
had many changes and challenges
over the past few months.
Part of her role was to maximise the
independence of the consumers
she supported based on the goals
identified by the MDT and listed in the
Service Delivery Plan. “Woodham Care
Services” asked her to be:
• Consumer directed and person
centred in her approach with
consumers.
• Aware of each consumer’s
strengths.
• Supportive of the person’s
independence.
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• Aware of the consumer’s
support needs to achieve
either independence or interdependence.
• Flexible and responsive to the
consumer’s goals.
• A facilitator so that consumers
would be included in their
community.
• Aware of the Service Delivery
Plan, the roles of the MDT, the
organisation’s goals, and its
policies and procedures.
After discussing it at the Monday Team
Meeting with the MDT, Kim’s steps
were:
• Check in with Dan and find out
if he still wanted to do art and
also find out what type of art he
wanted to do.
• Plan a meeting with the tutor
on one of Dan’s days off at the
community Adult Education
Centre so that Dan could meet
him and see where the bus stop
Careerforce – Issue 1.1 – March 2010
and the building were (this went
some way to overcoming the
barriers).
• Assure Dan that if he didn’t like
the art classes he did not need
to go back and they arranged to
reassess this after two weeks with
the tutor at the community Adult
Education Centre.
• Encourage Dan to discuss the
plan with his brother (his main
support person).
Dan’s brother bought him a “portfolio”
for his birthday—a leather carry
case for his painting and paints and
sketching materials.
Dan started at the art classes the
following week and really loved them.
His first art project was doing a still life
based on the vase and dried flowers
he had bought at the second hand
shop. Kim was stunned as his painting
was really good. When she told Dan
what she thought he beamed with
pride.
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103
1
What did Kim and the MDT do?
MDT:
2
How did Kim ensure that social
interaction and community
involvement were supported for Dan?
3
How/were Dan’s significant others
included?
Kim:
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Careerforce – Issue 1.1 – March 2010
4
Did Kim re-evaluate Dan’s goals?
How?
5
How did Kim overcome the barriers to
Dan being involved in the community
and ensure that social interaction took
place?
6
What was the team’s role and Kim’s
role in Dan’s SDP?
Team’s role:
Kim’s role:
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105
Learning activity
Think of a consumer you have been
supporting and fill in the following
table.
How would you re-evaluate the consumer’s goals?
How would you overcome the barriers to consumer involvement in the community and
ensure that social interaction took place?
What is your role when facilitating in relation to the SDP and your organisation’s policies and
procedures?
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Careerforce – Issue 1.1 – March 2010
What planning would you need to do?
How would you ensure that social interaction and community involvement were supported
for the consumer?
How would the consumer’s significant others be included?
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107
Do you agree with your initial
thoughts and ideas?
no
yes / no
To page 7
yes
If yes, do you have anything you
would like to add?
If no, what would you change?
If you have any more questions, what could you do or who could you ask to find the answers?
108
Support, mentor and facilitate a consumer to maximise independence in a health and disability setting
Careerforce – Issue 1.1 – March 2010
You have come to the end of:
Support, mentor and facilitate a consumer to maximise
independence in a health or disability setting
Check the following:
Please check over all the activities to make sure you have
completed them.
Complete the trainee assessment portfolio and remember to sign your
assessment portfolio in the place provided, verifying that you are the
one who has completed all the assessments.
When you have completed the workplace
assessment portfolio and have been signed
off as competent by your assessor, your
assessor will complete a Certificate and
give it to you.
If you wish, you could frame it for display or
mount it in a record book.
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109
You have now completed
23925 V1 Support, mentor and facilitate a consumer to maximise
independence in a health or disabiltiy setting:
part of a Careerforce learning series designed for support workers in a health
and disability setting.
Disclaimer:
The images contained in this workbook are visual illustrations only and are not representative of actual
events or personal circumstances.
Careerforce – Issue 1.0 – March 2010