Empowering the people we support to take positive risks has long been on the agenda for social care. Sam Hussain, Founder and CEO of Log my Care, delves into goal setting and how technology can help give people the autonomy they need in care.
As the UK care sector faces increasing pressures and challenges, there is a growing need to provide person-centred and individual-led care for the people you support. This type of care goes beyond simply addressing a person's physical needs and focuses on their overall wellbeing, ensuring they receive support that is tailored to their individual goals and aspirations. By using technology to enable end-to-end goal management, you can define desired results, such as improved mental health, increased mobility or better quality of life and set specific and measurable actions that increase independence. All of this helps the people you support to learn life skills to live more independent lives.
Why are positive risk-taking and goal setting so important?
People receiving care should feel empowered to live their best lives and reach their aspirations. In many care situations, the people seeking support and their loved ones may already feel like they’re losing control simply because of the circumstances that led them to access care. That’s why involving them in goal setting around their care is critical to helping them retain autonomy and empowering them to build their own independence and move to a lower acuity setting.
Setting goals and empowering people to take positive risks means that they are at the heart of the care plans put in place to support them. By involving people in goal setting, families and friends know that their loved one is involved in and receiving the high-quality care they deserve. Moving a relative into care can be a difficult time for families but knowing that their family member still has autonomy and is empowered by the care they are receiving, can help with that transition.
Empowering positive risk-taking
Empowering the people you support to take positive risks can be a challenging task for care providers, but it’s a crucial part of delivering person-centred care that promotes independence, confidence and growth. Positive risk-taking means encouraging people to make choices that lead to personal growth, learning and new experiences while still ensuring their safety and wellbeing.
Delivering high-quality, person-centred care means involving individuals in decision-making processes whenever possible. They know their own aspirations and goals better than anyone else. This is an opportunity to initiate discussions with the people you support and their loved ones about the care that might benefit them and help develop care plans that really suit them.
How Log my Care can support you to set goals
Log my Care's new Outcomes and Goals feature enables you to define goals and use photos and videos to track and evidence progress, easily demonstrating goal attainment to local authorities and families .
Making it easier for you to coordinate your team's efforts towards achieving specific goals for the people you support and empowering them to take positive risks and develop independence. By setting and working towards specific goals that matter most to them, people accessing care can develop a sense of purpose and fulfilment, enhancing their overall wellbeing.
