Helping People Know More About Your Son or Daughter – Developing One Page Profiles

There has been information shared in Windsor in workshops with Erin Sheldon from Inclusion Ontario about developing resources to help people in the lives of your son or daughter get to know more about them, highlight what makes them shine, where they need support and what works best for them.  Parents have reported that this has been very helpful.  Some of Erin’s work is based on tools developed by Helen Sanderson.  One of these tools is called a “One Page Profile”.  This profile incorporates input not only from parents and caregivers, but also peers and others who might see them in different ways.

The following information is from Helen Sanderson.

http://helensandersonassociates.co.uk/person-centred-practice/one-page-profiles/

We believe that one-page profiles are the foundation of personalization, and can lead to positive change for people, whatever their age or circumstances. They provide us with an at-a-glance way of knowing what really matters to people, that can be taken with them as they move through services and come into contact with people.

What is a One Page Profile?

A One Page Profile captures all the important information about a person on a single sheet of paper under three simple headings: what people appreciate about me, what’s important to me and how best to support me.

You can look at or download free One Page Profile templates here.

 

How can they help us to support people better?

One Page Profiles are deceptively simple, and in this simplicity lies their strength. They help us to support people better by:

  • Helping us build better relationships by truly understanding what really matters to the person in their life and the way they are supported to live it
  • Providing a record that can move with the person as they transition from service to service or use multiple services
  • Being regularly updated to reflect people’s changing circumstances and aspirations
  • When staff have One Page Profiles, the people being supported feel like they get to know the person, rather than just the job title
  • When used at work, they can contribute to more person-centred teams, where individual strengths are recognized and different ways of working are taken into account