We decided to use role play and acted out two scenarios; a good plan and a bad plan.
In our good plan scenario Lee had been fully involved with the development of his plan. His plan was in a format that made sense to him and that he could understand, it contained detailed information about him, his family and friends and the support he wanted.
During this scenario Charlotteused great facilitation skills to make sure that Lee felt comfortable throughout the
conversation. Her manner was warm, she sat next to Lee, gave good eye contact, listened well and was creative in
offering suggestions about what they could do with their time together.
Using great facilitation skills led to a relaxed conversation and supported Lee to be empowered and receive the support that made sense to him. The audience gave resounding applause after this scenario, showing their delight at recognising great facilitation.
In the bad plan scenario the information was brief, out of date and had been written about Lee without his involvement.
Jill (using great acting skills) didn’t introduce herself to Lee and was abrupt in her manner. Jill stood over Lee and didn’t make eye contact or show any warmth. Having poor facilitation skills led to an uncomfortable conversation, it felt
controlling and resulted in Lee feeling frustrated and poorly supported.
The message we wanted to get across in the workshop was that person centred plans are developed with full involvement from the person the plan belongs to, are kept up to date and contain detailed information.
While we acted out our scenarios it became really clear to us, from comments from those attending the workshop, however good a person centred plan is, to achieve outcomes requires great facilitation skills.
A person centred plan is not an end in itself, merely the process for collecting detailed information which when acted on leads to great support and a life that makes sense to the person. However good a plan is, acting on the information is key but poor facilitation skills can lead to little or no outcomes. To successfully achieve outcomes and support a person really well we need to use great facilitation skills... “it ain’t what you do…it’s the way that you do it”
Cath Barton, PCP Facilitator - East Lancs