People who draw on care and support have the right to live the life they choose – not just to fit into services that already exist.
That’s where person-centred care and support planning comes in.
What does person-centred planning mean?
Person-centred care and support planning is about:
- Seeing each person as an individual with their own way of being, things they like and are good at, and things they want to achieve.
- Focusing on what matters to them, not just what care and support they need or what services are available.
- Working together to plan support that fits their life, culture, and choices.
Instead of people who work in care and support deciding for someone, it’s about decisions being made with the person.
“Without person-centred planning, you often have passive recipients of services instead of people shaping their own lives.”
Core principles of person-centred planning
Person-centred planning is built on some key ideas:
- Respect and dignity: Everyone’s life choices deserve respect.
- Choice and control: People should have real power to shape their own support.
- Person-centred: The person is at the heart of everything, valued for who they are and what they contribute to the people around them.
- Co-production: Planning happens in partnership with the person and people who know and care about them.
- Focusing on the positives: The focus is on the person’s gifts, talents and aspirations, not on what they can’t do and their needs.
- Whole life thinking: The focus is on the person and their whole life, their physical, mental and emotional wellbeing and their relationships with family, friends and the wider community.
- Accessibility: Information and conversations should reflect the ways the person communicates and understands. The venue for planning meetings should be valued and comfortable for everyone, not necessarily a service setting.
“One of the keys to person-centred planning is to make sure that it is meaningful to everyone. The whole meeting is therefore recorded using drawings and words.”
What does good person-centred planning look like?
When person-centred planning is working well, you’ll see:
- Conversations that feel natural, not like a tick-box assessment.
- The person’s own words used in the plan.
- A focus on outcomes – rather than activities – that reflect what matters to the person.
- Creativity – there should be a willingness to come up with non-traditional solutions, reflecting that support can come from community groups, friends, or new ways of organising things; not just services.
- Regular reviews to check the plan is still right as life changes.
- Planning meetings must not discuss the difficulties services may be experiencing or the constraints they are working to.
Person-centred planning should leave people feeling listened to, valued and in control.
Why co-production matters
Co-production is a way of working whereby everybody works together on an equal basis to create a service or come to a decision which works for them all.
For care and support planning, this means:
- People who work in care and support sharing their expertise, but also listening deeply to the person’s own knowledge about their life.
- People who know and care about the person being included if the person wishes.
- Recognising that people are experts in their own experiences.
When plans are co-produced, they’re more likely to work in real life and to help people achieve what matters most to them.
Other sections on this hub
About choice and control in care and support
