Adult Practice Reviews sometimes fault practitioners for failing to take a person-centred approach. A failure to focus on the individual can lead to the marginalisation of their experiences, wishes and feelings.
The following have been found to assist practitioners maintain a person-centred approach when working with adults at risk of abuse or neglect:
- See and speak to the individual. This requires practitioners to consider how best to facilitate the person’s ability to participate in the safeguarding process. For example, through communication support or advocacy. It is important to establish an open and honest relationship so that the adult at risk of abuse or neglect feels sufficiently confident to speak freely.
- Find out about their daily lived experience. To identify and meet the needs of an adult at risk it is necessary to understand what a day is like in their lives, their feelings about their day and what they would like to change. It is also important to know how the day changes at weekends, holidays and when different people care for them. It is only by understanding their daily lived experience that practitioners can appreciate how abuse or neglect is affecting the individual, their needs, areas of resilience and the risk factors.
- Establish what they would like to see change in their daily lives. To understand the individual’s personal outcomes, what they wish to achieve and what matters to them, it is also important to establish how the adult wishes their daily life to change. This provides practitioners with understanding as to how the adult at risk perceives the abuse or neglect, they are experiencing, its impact and the personal outcomes they hope to achieve through professional intervention.
- Recognise that in some cases wishes may not override safeguarding interests. It is important to take the wishes and feelings of the person seriously, however their wishes may be over-ridden if the adult at risk, does not have the mental capacity to make decisions in their best interests.
For further information see:
SCIE (2016) Making Safeguarding Personal (Accessed 29/07/2019)