[4][5][6] It is promoted as a key method for delivering the personalisation objectives of the UK government's 'Putting People First' programme for social care.
Person-centered planning has similarities to other processes and ideas, but was first named and described more definitely by a group of people in the US, including the Center on Human Policy's Rehabilitation Research and Training Center (RRTC) on Community Integration e.g., Julie Ann Racino, Zana Lutfiyya, Steve Taylor, John O'Brien, Beth Mount, Connie Lyle O'Brien, technical assistance "partners" of the RRTC (e.g., Michael Smull, Wade Hitzing, Karen Green-McGowen, Nick Arambarri) and person-centred planning in Canada by Jack Pearpoint, Judith Snow and Marsha Forest.
[10] Prior to its inception, these principles were crystallised by John O'Brien and Connie Lyle O'Brien in the 'Framework for Accomplishment' which listed five key areas important in shaping people's quality of life, and asserting that services should be judged by the extent to which they enable people to: The title 'person-centred' is used because those who developed it and used it initially shared a belief that services tend to work in a 'service-centred' way.
[15] Person-centred planning involves the individual receiving the service, with family members, neighbors, employers, community members, and friends, and professionals (such as physician/ doctors, psychiatrists, nurses, support workers, care managers, therapists, and social workers) developing a plan on community participation and quality of life with the individual.
Person-centred planning offers an alternative to traditional models, striving to place the individual at the centre of decision-making, treating family members as partners.
It is based on the values of human rights, interdependence, choice and social inclusion, and can be designed to enable people to direct their own services and supports, in a personalised way.
Person-centered planning utilises a number of techniques, with the central premise that any methods used must be reflective of the individual's personal communication mechanisms and assist them to outline their needs, wishes and goals.
There is no differentiation between the process used and the output and outcomes of the PCP; instead, it pursues social inclusion through means such as community participation, employment and recreation.
In the US, person-centered planning can help to create new lifestyles, new homes and jobs, diverse kinds of support (informal and formal) and new social relationships.
[20]A key obstacle to people achieving better lives has been the risk averse culture that has been prevalent in human services for a variety of reasons.
The hope of funding it in the USA was to influence the processes, such as planning through the Medicaid home and community-based waiver services for people moving from institutions to the community.
These principles are reliant on mechanisms such as individualised funding packages and the organisational capacity to design and deliver "support" services.
It is essential that organisations and agencies providing services make a commitment to strive for person-centredness in all of their activities, which can result in major changes in areas of practice such as recruitment, staff training, and business planning and management.
The challenge of the next three years is to take all this innovative work and make sure that more – and eventually all – people have real choice and control over their lives and services.Person-centered planning in the USA has continued to be investigated at the secondary research level and validated for more general use (e.g., Claes et al. 2010).
Person centred thinking and planning is founded on the premise that genuine listening contains an implied promise to take action.