- Action Planning
An action plan is used to organize the work that needs to be done by breaking down a more complex task into smaller steps. Action plans are often used to keep a team focused and to monitor progress over time.
- Applied Behavior Analysis
Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) is an example of a positive support. People use this practice to change social behavior and improve lives. For instance, parents can use ABA to help their children learn new social skills. Teachers use ABA in classrooms with groups of students or with one child who needs more help to succeed to improve academic outcomes. ABA can help adults with disabilities live on their own in the community. In fact, this positive support can be used by people of all ages who want to change behavior. Businesses organize work settings using ABA so that employees can get more work done. Applied Behavior Analysis is also used to prevent challenging behaviors and improve quality of life. It is important to ask people how they use ABA since it can be used in so many different ways.
- Dialectical Behavior Therapy
Dialectical behavior therapy is a type of cognitive behavioral treatment originally used to support people with borderline personality disorder but that has been expanded to support people with a range of issues that are related to self-regulating behavior. People who learn to self-regulate learn to recognize and handle strong emotions. Dialectical Behavior Therapy or DBT has been used to address a number of mental health issues including post-traumatic stress, binge eating, depression and substance misuse. The main goal of dialectical behavior therapy is to learn four strategies: 1) develop skills to regulate emotions, 2) practice mindfulness skills that help people to live in the moment, 3) increase the ability to tolerate distress, and 4) expand relationship-building skills. Therapeutic settings for Dialectical Behavior Therapy involve working in groups to learn new behavioral skills, meeting for individual therapy, and engaging in coaching sessions.
- Home and Community-Based Services (HCBS)
Federal, state, local, and tribal governments develop and finance Home and Community-Based Services (HCBS) to help ensure people across the lifespan can get long-term supports and services in their homes and communities instead of within institutional settings if that is their choice. These services help people live their lives as independently as possible. Examples of services include: medication management support, assistance in preparing meals and shopping in the community, or receiving access to evidence-based practices that help people achieve the highest quality of life possible.
- Important For
The term “Important For” refers to those things that are needed to help keep people safe and that ensure mental and physical wellness. Examples of what is “Important For” a person can include: ensuring basic safety at home and in the community, maintaining daily hygiene that prevents serious pain or illness, taking medications that keep a person alive and healthy, using mental health practices that prevent severe mental illness such as depression or substance abuse, and making sure a person is considered a valued part of the community.
- Important To
The term “Important To” refers to those things that make us happy, content, gives us purpose and meaning to our day, and makes life enjoyable. Examples of what is “Important To” us include: favorite items or belongings, places we choose to visit, events and activities we enjoy, a feeling of having social status in our community, the ability to predict and control our day, choosing a preferred rhythm and pace in life, honoring our routines and rituals, and finding and maintaining key relationships.
- Natural Supports
Refers to the relationships and connections with people from everyday contact in the community that provides support to a person or family. Examples of natural supports include neighbors who might take a person shopping when they are planning to go shopping themselves, people who are part of support groups who offer to make personal connections with another person between group meetings, or business owners in local shops who may need assistance completing work.
- One Page Description
Information often one page in length that captures important details about a person including sections to organize simple summaries. These sections can include what people like about me, what is important to me, and what you can do to support me. These descriptions have been used to support a variety of people across the lifespan who receive services and to support HCBS staff, county, or state professionals
- PATH
PATH is a person-centered planning process created to support people with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities identify a vision for their future. A PATH facilitator starts by talking with a person about their dream or vision around a specific area. The person will choose who they want involved in the planning process. The facilitator leads the person’s team through the steps involved in the PATH including discussing what is happening now, who should be enrolled in helping to make the dream a reality and mapping out the 3 and 6-month goals that will create momentum. Teams often use PATH process as a way to improve HCBS.
- Person-Centered Organization
Many people believe the services they provide are already person-centered. It is also true that we can always improve how we provide services. Members of a person-centered organization actively choose to build on existing strengths using a continuum of strategies that helps with relationship building and improves quality of life for people receiving services as well as for staff and families who support them. The goal of the organization-wide team is to create strategies that can help staff and the people being supported to work together to create a plan for improving person-centered outcomes.
- Person-Centered Practice
- Person-Centered Strategies that everyone can use to help people learn about what brings joy to someone and makes life worth living. These tools are also used to find out what is important to a person as well as understanding their needs for health, safety, and well-being.
- Person-Centered Planning is a process that is used to create a plan for a positive and meaningful life for someone by building on his or her interests and strengths. There are different methods that can be used to help a person create their dreams for a better future.
- Person-Centered Organization Changes address how services and supports are planned and delivered. Changes that are made include fixing policies, adding ongoing opportunities for learning, and building community supports. Services for people across the lifespan are changed in ways that improve quality of life outcomes.
- Person-Centered Thinking
The foundational value-based skills that change the way in which someone sees another person that makes it possible for person-centered plans to be effective. Tools used in Person-Centered Thinking encourage active listening and relationship building and includes problem solving in ways that supports a deeper understanding of what is important to a person . The goal of person-centered thinking is to understand who someone is by their strengths and abilities, and what they can contribute.
- Positive Behavior Support
Positive Behavior Support is a research-based practice used to improve the quality of a person’s life and prevent or decrease challenging social interactions. The tools and strategies used in positive behavior support encourage positive social communication and involve changing social settings to prevent challenging behaviors. Positive behavior support is based on research from areas including biomedical and behavioral science. Research also guides how positive behavior support is implemented in education and human service settings using a tiered model with interventions that gradually increase based on each person's unique needs. The universal tier includes interventions for improving the quality of life and social interactions for everyone within a provider setting. The second tier involves monitoring data to identify problems that a person might have as early as possible and to intervene when challenges are still minor. The third tier is used to create individualized plans for each person who needs more intense supports.
- Positive Support Practices
The term positive support refers to practices that are: a) person-centered, family-centered, student-centered, and community-centered, b) evidence-based with research studies that show how effective an approach is and who benefits from the practice, c) sensitive and respectful to the unique culture of each person involved, d) adapted and improved over time using data to guide use, and e) often implemented with other practices within complex everyday settings.
- Quality of Life
This is a common term used to describe how a person experiences their standard of health and wellbeing. Quality of life can be broken down into domains: emotional wellness, social interactions, work and employment, financial status, living environment, physical health, intellectual stimulation, and spiritual growth.
- Response to Intervention
RTI is an educational practice that involves early identification of the academic and social supports needed for all students in school. An increasing continuum of interventions is provided to students needing more educational and behavioral support to ensure academic success. The RTI model has three tiers of academic interventions that increase in intensity across each tier. RTI involves effective instruction for all students and universal screening in general education classrooms. Struggling learners are provided with interventions based on what they need to improve learning outcomes. Student progress is monitored on an ongoing basis with each student receiving an intensity and duration of instruction based on the data that are being collected to monitor and improve progress.
- Self-regulation
A social skill that allows a person to be aware of and manage emotional states, internal thoughts, and behavior in way that helps to create positive relationships and a sense of well-being. Examples include using strategies to manage stress levels and cope with strong emotions such as anger and grief.
- Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavior Therapy
Traumatic life experiences such as child or domestic abuse, natural disasters, or other negative life events can have a lasting impact on a person’s health and emotional wellbeing. Trauma-Informed Cognitive Behavior Therapy is an evidence-based practice that addresses this issue. Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavior Therapy is a positive support that teaches children and adults skills to recognize negative or unhealthy thoughts associated with past experiences and to engage in stress management and coping strategies when these thoughts occur. This approach can also include teaching new skills for parents and caregivers of children involved in therapy. A family therapy approach is used to help recognize family dynamics, teach new parenting skills, support stress management for both child and family members, and work on improving communication skills.
- Wraparound Planning
Parents of children and adults with mental health needs and challenging behavior are often expected to communicate with a number of different service systems. Each of these services require parents to complete forms, attend meetings, and respond to requests related to services. Juvenile justice, children and family services, special education, mental health, and developmental disabilities are all examples of these different services. The wraparound plan is mean to help youth and their parents by improving service coordination. Wraparound planning is a team-based approach that is child-and family-driven. Team members include natural supports (friends, family members, and people who know the child or young person well). Individuals from formal supports might include a parole officer, counselor, psychiatrist, or special education teacher. The goal of wraparound is to assess the child and family strengths in order to build a plan of support that will improve quality of life.