Spotlight Article Series: Increasing Person-Centered Thinking

 Welcome Back to another school year! Our monthly newsletter will feature a “Spotlight
Article,” highlighting foundational best practices in our field. This year’s articles are drawn from Angela Novak Amado and Marijo Mc Bride's (2001) work from the
Institute on Community Integration at the University of Minnesota. The series will focus on “Increasing Person-Centered Thinking.” In a world where systems have become all the rage, PBS remains committed to reinforcing our roots, prioritizing quality of care, and ensuring meaningful, lasting change in the lives of the children and families we serve. Happy reading!

September Highlight: Contrasting Images of the Future (Excerpts from Amado, A. N. and Mc Bride, M. (2001), Increasing Person-Centered Thinking: Improving the Quality of Person-Centered Planning: A Manual for Person-Centered Planning Facilitators.
Minneapolis, Minnesota: University of Minnesota, Institute on Community Integration).

In her 1992 sourcebook “Person-Centered Planning: Finding Directions for Change Using Personal Futures Planning,” Beth Mount commented on the dichotomies
between system-centered and person-centered ways of thinking about an individual’s future. Person-centered change challenges us to discover and invent a personal dream for people, and to craft a pattern of living that increases people’s participation
and belonging in community life. Rather than planning a lifetime of programs, the goal is to craft a desirable lifestyle. Too often, we find ourselves offering a limited
number of (usually) segregated program options. Instead, as change agents, we need to design an unlimited number of desirable experiences. Instead of basing options on stereotypes about disabilities, we need to find new possibilities for each person. Instead of focusing on filling seats, spots, or placements, we need to focus on quality of life. As clinicians, we tend to overemphasize technologies and clinical strategies.
Instead, we need to emphasize dreams, desires, and meaningful experiences. Instead of organizing our efforts to please funders, regulators, policies, and rules,
we can organize to respond to people.

O’Brien and O’Brien’s “five valued experiences” (Framework for Accomplishment, 1989) lead to questions on which to focus in developing a more desirable future: COMMUNITY PRESENCE (“How can we increase the presence of a person in local community life?”), PROMOTING CHOICE (“How can we help people have more control and choice in life?”),
COMMUNITY PARTICIPATION (“How can we expand and deepen people’s friendships?”), SUPPORTING CONTRIBUTION (“How can we assist people to develop more competencies and contribute their unique gifts?”), and VALUED ROLES (“How can we
enhance the reputation people have and increase the number of valued ways people can contribute?”). 

Beth Mount also described the differences in images of the future in traditional program plans compared to futures that are worth working for.
● In traditional program plans, goals often focus on specific negative behaviors of the focus person to change or decrease, whereas plans might contain specific, concrete examples of positive activities, experiences, and life
situations to increase.
● Traditional program plans identify program categories and service options that are often segregated, whereas future ideas and possibilities might reflect specific community sites and settings and valued roles within those settings.
● In traditional program plans, many goals and objectives reflect potentially minor
accomplishments that can be attained within existing programs without making any changes. In future plans, some ideas may seem far out, unrealistic, and impractical, and may require major changes in existing patterns such as funding categories, service options, how and where people spend their time, and who is
involved in shared decision-making.
● In traditional programs, plans often look similar to the plans and ideas written for other people. Quality future plans reflect the unique interests, gifts, and qualities of the person, and the unique characteristics, settings, and life of the
local community.
● Traditional program plans will probably not even mention personal relationships or community life. Future ideas emphasize creative ways to focus on developing and deepening personal relationships and community life, ultimately resulting in a stronger circle of supportive stakeholders.

Thought Exercise: Take a moment to think about the work that you do. What are some of the ways that you can be more person-centered in your thinking and planning?