PBS recognises there may be certain situations where new approaches need to be considered, including positive risk-taking. Positive risk-taking aims to strike a balance between keeping a person safe, whilst also ensuring that some well-calculated and managed risks are taken. The desired outcome is that PBS encourages and supports people to learn skills in new ways, whilst retaining as much independence as possible.
How does the PBS process work?
Our Referral & Assessment Team and our support teams can complete a PBS referral form for any individual they feel would benefit. Our Specialist Support Team will then complete a functional behavioral assessment to determine why behaviours that challenge occur by meeting with the individual, their support team, and any health professionals already involved in their support. They’ll gather a full picture of the social and physical environment along with the individual’s behaviour history, their likes and dislikes, and goals.
Once this information has been gathered, it serves as a basis for the development of an Individual Behaviour Support Plan (IBSP) that looks to replace an individual’s behaviours that challenge with a functionally equivalent skill. The IBSP will be integrated into the individual’s current support plan. As part of creating the plan, our PBS team will assess if there are any additional training needs of the support team, as well as reviewing if any other individuals living at the same service require any additional support.
PBS takes a proactive approach to support, carefully managing risk, and involves:
• adapting the support team’s communication skills to meet the individual’s needs
• teaching new skills to help the person we support to become more independent
• supporting the individual to find different ways of coping with situations they find difficult
• reducing the need for the support team to implement restrictive physical intervention.
The Specialist Support Team will stay close to the individual and their support team, carrying out regular evaluation reviews until the PBS plan is seen to be effective in significantly reducing or negating the behaviours.