In May, some of our colleagues attended the Bild International Positive Behaviour Support Conference in Newcastle.
Aim Of PBS
The overall aim of PBS is to improve the quality of life of people who use care services and special education, and that of those around them. It is effective in producing positive outcomes, such as increasing the person’s skills and life opportunities. As a by-product there is a reduction in concerning behaviour. PBS puts the person first, it is pro-active, focussing on tailoring the environment and support to the individual, rather than just responding to episodes of concerning behaviour. It helps to address underlying needs, that left unmet, can drive individuals to challenge themselves or others.
At Bright Futures we seek to build on current behavioural practice by fully embedding a PBS approach. This aligns to our values and demonstrates our commitment to delivering great quality care and education by highly trained staff.
Our Vision
In respect of PBS, our vision is to:
– Understand the people we support and what they need to live safe, fulfilled, and meaningful lives, and to teach them the skills that they need to achieve this.
– Train our staff so that they have a good understanding (relevant to their position) of PBS. Ensure a positive culture is created and maintained across the organisation where reflection and enquiry are actively pursued, practice is evidence based, and plans are coproduced.
– Show unwavering compassion for each other, people we support, and their families. PBS and it’s core values are at the heart of all the support given at Bright Futures, we as an organisation share it’s goals and are driven and passionate to deliver these outcomes for all those we support.
Theme Of The Conference
The theme of May’s annual conference was Kindness, Connection and Coproduction: Looking for the heart and soul of PBS. Over the course of two days there were various leaders within the area of Learning Disabilities, speaking passionately about the power of kindness and relationships in supporting individuals. Discussing how utilising this can provide a great foundation to providing successful support and provides a pathway to supporting people to achieve a great quality of life that is personal to them. One speaker, simply asked the question, “what can I do in the next hour to make the person I am supporting happy?” Asking this question and fulfilling this action provides a simplistic mindset of how PBS should be understood. The focus should be to improve happiness and the person’s quality of life.
The seminars and workshops were well facilitated and co-produced with people with lived experiences. Co-production acknowledges that people with ‘lived experience’ are often best placed to advise on what support and services will make a positive difference to their lives. Done well, co-production helps to ground discussions in reality, and to maintain a person-centred perspective. Co-production is part of a range of
approaches that includes involvement, participation, engagement, and consultation. It is a cornerstone of person-centred care. Speakers at the conference included leading practitioners in the sector, families, and people with lived experiences. Their powerful stories were shared and really added value to the conference and the messages being taken away.
