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TBI Consumer Report: Person-Centered Planning Mount Sinai Medical Center (page 2 of 2) Page 2 of 2

What Can an Agency Do to Develop Person-Centered Planning?

You should download both the "Moving On" workbook and the "Facilitators Manual." Review these materials to see if this approach to person-centered planning fits. If you need additional assistance, contact us for technical assistance. If our materials don't fit, a wealth of other approaches to individualized planning is reviewed in a recent article by Donnelly and Carswell (Reference 5).

One Person's Experience with Person-Centered Planning

Claudia is a 55-year-old woman who was injured 10 years ago. She describes herself as spiritual, an optimist, and a caring friend. Since injury, she has experienced great fatigue and short-term memory loss. But, from the start of her involvement in Personal Futures Planning (PFP; the type of person-centered planning developed by Dr. Mount), she expressed a strong desire to make life better. In the course of doing PFP, she defined this as being more involved in her community, going back to work, being able to manage her own finances, getting around on her own, and becoming better organized.

The first members of Claudia's team were her sister Anne and her life partner Jim, who has been very supportive of her after TBI. As a minister, Anne is well connected in the community. Not surprisingly, it was Anne who helped Claudia with her goal of becoming more involved in the community, by finding a church where she felt "at home" and could actively participate.

Her support team wasn't large, but it was made up of people who loved and respected her. This was critical, because in the three-year period in which she engaged in PFP, Claudia had five different service coordinators coming into and out of her life. Nevertheless, she kept moving on with life and, in fact, has been able to take on most of the tasks typically managed by service coordinators. This skill was strengthened when Gary, a program director from a local service provider, was invited to join the PFP team to help her become better organized. Her growth in organizational skills was supported by her organizing and tracking information about planning, as a shared responsibility in PFP.

Claudia's team meets regularly, creating consistency for her and a continuing opportunity to bring her concerns to the team. One such concern was Claudia's need to find others with TBI who would be willing to share their experiences. A regional TBI resource person was invited to meet with the team, and, through her, Claudia found a support group that has become Claudia's connection to a wider support and resource network.

To assist Claudia in developing her skills in the community, her service provider agency supported cognitive group sessions, during the course of which group leaders noticed that Claudia was adept in facilitating discussions. As a result, she was offered a job working for the agency as a life skills counselor. Because agency policy required that all employees pass a CPR course, they accommodated her by placing her job on hold for several months while she studied for and obtained CPR certification.

Claudia is beginning to see life after injury as worthwhile, as she increasingly is getting the opportunity to, in her words, "use my brain." She had been immersed in a system that held low expectations and saw her in terms of her deficiencies, but now is surrounded by people who have strong but realistic expectations for her. Her upbeat attitude and enthusiasm for life are returning.

References

1. Menchetti, B.M., and Sweeney, M.A. (1995). Person-centered planning (Technical Assistance Packet 5). Gainesville: University of Florida, Department of Special Education, Florida Network.

2. Mount, B., and Zwernik, K. (1988). It's never too early, it's never too late: a booklet about personal futures planning. St Paul, MN: Minnesota Governor's Planning Council on Developmental Disabilities (300 Centennial Office Building, 658 Cedar Street, St. Paul MN 55155).

3. Mount, B., Riggs, D., Brown, M., and Hibbard, M. (2003). Moving on: A personal futures planning workbook for individuals with brain injury. Revised edition. New York: Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, The Mount Sinai Medical Center.

4. Mount, B., Brown, M., and Hibbard, M. (2003). Personal futures planning for individuals with TBI: Facilitator's manual. Revised edition. New York: Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, The Mount Sinai Medical Center.

5. Donnelly, C., and Carswell, A. (2002). Individualized outcome measures: a review of the literature. Canadian Journal of Occupational Therapy, 69 (2), 84-94.

TBI Consumer Report is a publication of the Research and Training Center on Community Integration of Individuals with Traumatic Brain Injury, supported between 1993 and 2004 by Grant No. H133B980013, to the Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York City, from the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research, United States Department of Education. The contents of this report do not necessarily represent the views of the Department of Education; readers should not assume endorsement by the federal government. 

From Mount Sinai Medical Center. www.mssm.edu.

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