Rosemary Trustam attended an event celebrating what people and staff at Three Cs achieved using an inspirational piece of software.Angela’s dearest wish was to become a volunteer and swim with dolphins. She succeeded in her wish and now feels she has control of her life, chooses what she wears and how she decorates her room.
Some people wanted to earn money and get employment relevant to their interests. They worked closely with staff and achieved their objectives.
These were some of the inspiring stories heard at an event organised by Three Cs to celebrate what people had achieved using the software iplanit.
“A leading champion for innovation” was how the founder and director of the iplanit software company Aspirico Declan Kelly described Three Cs.
“Three Cs stands out among the initial providers piloting it as they had really embraced its purpose and led a culture shift in supporting people to achieve their bigger aspirations,” he said. The system has been developed as ‘core’ to the way they work.
The occasion brought together support staff and people with learning disabilities and everyone shared their experience of the last five years. Their achievements were recognised with awards for both support staff and people with learning disabilities.
What was striking was the way people directed their own plans and took control of them. Plans can look good on paper but aren’t so easy to track, which is part of what iplanit offers. People can directly hold staff to account on key aspirations and work with staff teams to get there.
The iplanit software was inspired by Sally Warren, Director of Paradigm, who was determined to give people more control of their lives so they could develop their own version of ‘an ordinary life’. Some like-minded agencies came together with Declan Kelly to develop and try it out. Sally wanted software that could help people be more in charge of achieving what mattered most to them in their lives, an aspiration shared with Jo Clare, Three Cs’ Chief Executive.
iplanit can be used for people’s comprehensive needs and plans as well as for the most important things for an individual – their wishes and preferences. Three Cs’ chose to use it for what was most important for them, not their day-to-day needs. Other plans are lodged on but the goals tracked are those chosen by the person.
It can take time but staff persevere trying different approaches or other avenues to get the right result and adapting if the person changes their mind and wants something different.
Staff teams are monitored by managers who can access iplanit to ensure they are really on top of what needs to be done to help someone achieve their ambitions.
The team award went to staff and people who had moved to Three Cs only two months previously and had embraced iplanit and progressed together. This team said, “Moving to Three Cs had been like getting an upgrade”.
The manager who got the key performer’s award for the second year running was chosen because he had made the most difference for people who had huge challenges in the past. For the last seven years they have managed to stay out of Assessment and Treatment Units and police cells. Using iplanit, he and his teams have enabled people to develop full lives in the community.
This event showed how motivated staff can make effective use of this tool. It can also provide a wealth of evidence to show people’s achievements – to commissioners and inspectors.
(See also, Thin socks and sandals – is this what dreams are made of? How Three Cs introduced iplanit. Volume 25, No. 2 p.12)
