Positive Behavioural Support
Supporting people with behaviours that challenge
Hft’s Positive Behavioural Support team is a dedicated service within Hft, established to ensure that a hands-on approach in the development of specialised behavioural support remains core to Hft’s daily operations. The team promote a positive behavioural support philosophy, demonstrating through their outcomes reduced levels of challenging behaviours/restrictive practices and an improved quality of life for the people we support.
What the team do
Challenging behaviour is defined as ‘behaviour of such an intensity, frequency or duration as to threaten the quality of life and/or the physical safety of the individual or others, and is likely to lead to responses that are restrictive, aversive or result in exclusion’. The team help build an understanding of why a person behaves in certain ways, and develop Positive Behaviour Support Plans aimed at reducing these over time. The team use a person-centred approach throughout, to design and implement behavioural intervention strategies.
How the team works
In partnership with support staff, families and external professionals, they provide expertise in the following areas:
- Assessment – using a person-centred approach to implement behaviour intervention support strategies.
- Recording behaviours – reviewing changes over time through data analysis, to gain a greater understanding of the causes and consequences of certain behaviours.
- PBS and PBM – developing Positive Behaviour Support Plans which includes identifying: proactive strategies, adaptations, preventative strategies for when a person shows early signs of distress and reactive strategies for managing behaviours that are not preventable.
- Training – specialist training around PBS and PBM to ensure all staff have the expertise to support people well, using least-restrictive practices.
- Ongoing Monitoring – using a range of tools to ensure the ongoing effectiveness of interventions and plans.
- Transition Support – providing advice and assessments when new referrals are made to Hft or when the people we support move between services.
- Research and Audit – participating in research to promote best practice in clinical support and service delivery.
Next steps
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