Support planningguidance

How to work with your clients to achievetheir care and support goals

care and support made simple

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What is support planning?

We talk in this leaflet about support planning. We could equallydescribe this as care planning, as these terms mean the same thingin this context.

By support planning we mean the process by which someonedecides, in discussion with others:

• In what ways they need help to carry on living their life as fullyand independently as they want to

• How they are going to get this help orwhat needs to happen

• What they hope they will achieve ifthey get this help

• Who needs to do what to makethis all happen

Support planning therefore followson from the process of establishingwhat someone thinks they need.You can use the Care NeedsHelper from You’re the Boss tostart this process off.

care and support made simple

Different types of plans

There are at least three different types of plans that are frequentlyreferred to as 'support plans'.

What we would call a support plan is a person’s own plan setting outtheir view of what help they need and where they are going to get itfrom. This should be as simple as possible. It can include not onlythe contribution of paid carers, but what they are going to do forthemselves, what friends and family can do, as well professionalssuch as GPs or physios. A template and worked example is providedalong with this booklet.

There is also what should really be called a 'purchasing plan', whichis used in cases where someone qualifies for assistance from theCouncil. This sets out the details of what the Council will pay for tohelp the person manage independently. Similarly, if the persontakes a Direct Payment from the Council they are likely to have toproduce a plan settingout how they are goingto spend the money. Inneither case is it likelythat this will cover allthe person’s needs forsupport becausethere are onlycertain things theCouncil will pay for.

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Different types of plans

Finally, there is what we would call a 'work plan'. When someoneemploys an agency or a paid carer to provide them with assistance,then the work plan forms the basis for the agreement between themand sets out the details of what they have committed to provide, egto help get the person up at 9.00 each morning or to hoover andclean all surfaces once per week on a Friday. This is a formaldocument because it is the basis of the contract between the personand the carer. If the Council is paying and organising the support onthe person’s behalf, they will generally provide the work plan for theagency, although it should be agreed with the person themselves.Again, it is unlikely that this will cover everything in the support planor the purchasing plan if more than one agency is being paid toprovide assistance.

Setting outcomesA really important part of the support­planning process is helpingthe service user to decide what is most important to them in termsof what they want to achieve, change or make sure does or does nothappen. This is what is technically called the 'outcomes' of receivingcare and support. These can be something as basic as maintainingtheir weight or keeping a particular health condition under control,or something more personal like still being able to entertain theirfriends at home or maintaining their active involvement with aparticular club and society.

Outcomes are important because they are the reason for providingcare and support and a way of assessing or measuring whether it isbeing provided effectively.

care and support made simple

Role of the paid carer

Service users are likely to need help with support planning, and thiscould and should be a part of what a paid carer offers. This can startwith helping them to decide on what they think their needs are –using a tool like the Care Needs Helper would assist you withasking the right questions.

If the service user does not have anyone else to assist, then youmay need to help them construct a support plan. This will involvehelping them to think through what outcomes they want to achievefrom the support available. It is important in doing this toencourage the person to be ambitious and not to necessarily accept

that their life has to be limited. With helpand advice, as well as more confidence,many people with care needs can still livefull and varied lives.

It is also important to look for ways tomaximise a person's independence – how

can they be enabled to do as much forthemselves or re­learn the ability to do

this. This could be a key part ofyour role.

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Working with others

If you are acting as paid carer to someone with care and supportneeds, you are likely to be involved in many of the specific tasksthat are identified on any support plan. But it is unlikely to be alldown to you.

The service user may well have friends and family who help providethem with support. It is important to ensure that they are fullyinvolved in the support­planning process and kept informed ofprogress and any change in the situation, assuming that this is whatthe service user wants. Also they may take the lead in this process,and your role as paid carer may be principally to support them withany information and provide cover when they cannot undertake atask that they agree to do. This is a key part of what you will need towork out in the support­planning process.

There also may be other people or organisations who need to beinvolved in providing support or assistance. As a paid carer, part ofyour role could be to provide information and ideas to the serviceusers and their other carers about the range of facilities in thecommunity to help people. It is worth spending time lookingthrough the pages on the You’re the Boss website for examplesof what we mean, as well as the Advice and Information pages.Also, do a bit of research to find out specific local contacts. It wouldbe useful to keep files of information about what you find out.

care and support made simple

Putting it in writing

You’re the Boss recommends that all people in need of care andsupport keep a written record of their support plan. It may feel a bitstrange to be so formal as to record support plans in writing. This isgood practice, however, for a number of reasons.

Having to make a record can make you think something throughwhen otherwise you would tend to let things slide. Making theexplicit link between tasks being carried out and the outcomes thatsomeone is trying to achieve is important, particularly when it goeson week after week, as it means you keep checking that you aredoing the right thing in the right way.

When more than one person is involved in providing care andsupport, it is important to be clear about who is doing what. Itprovides a basis for periodic review of what has happened and whathas been achieved, and whether something different or additionalhelp is required.

You’re the Boss has provided a template for a support plan and aworked example to accompanythis leaflet. The template looksat what people might need helpwith under the same headingsas the Care Needs Helper:

• Keeping healthy• Staying safe• Managing at home• Looking after myself• Eating well• Keeping myself occupied• Having a social life• Having a family life

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Work plans

As we have already said, the work plan is what we refer to as theagreement between the paid carer and the service user over whathelp the paid carer is going to provide towards the support plan andwhen. As such, it is important that it links these specific tasks to thesupport plan and the desirable outcomes are identified there.

As it is the basis on which the service user will be charged for theservice, it is also important that the work plan sets out how long it isexpected the paid carer will provide the assistance for. You’re theBoss has set out a format for the work plan as an appendix to theself­employed paid carers contract.

If you are working with the service user to help them construct thesupport plan and keeping it under regular review is part of the roleof the paid carer, then allowing time for this should be included inthe work plan.

It is always difficult to know how much to write in these documents.The most important thing to bear in mind is 'keep it simple', but youshould also consider the following: if someone was to step intomorrow to provide your client with care and support, what wouldthey need to know in order to do this safely and effectively? Thesupport plan and work plan should tell them this.

care and support made simple

Reviewing plans

Every kind of plan needs to be kept under review, including supportplans and work plans. This involves setting aside time by puttingdates in the diary and sticking to them in order to see what progresshas been made towards the service user’s stated outcomes thatthey want to achieve, whether the tasks identified have beencarried out and whether they have had the desired effect. Try toavoid putting these off more than once.

The review should be as informal as you can make it, but again it isimportant that it is recorded in writing. If things have changed atall, then a new support plan should be produced. It is a good idea inthis case to make a note on it as to what had previously happenedand whether the outcomes and tasks identified are new or acontinuation of what had happened previously.

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About us

You’re the Boss can provide you with all of the tools and resourcesthat you need to run a successful care business. When you are firststarting out, we can help you to plan how your business will be setup, your running costs, your business plan and more. We can also

help you to work as a self­employed paid carer and if you arelooking to start a bigger venture by employing others

to work for you. We can provide all thecontracts and policies that you need to run a

successful business, and we also havematerials that you can use and customisefor marketing.

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