The Quality of Life Framework is a way to measure personal outcomes profiling how people feel about their quality of life in eight different domains.
These eight domains are grouped into three factors:
Happiness and safety, and how individuals feel about their life.
Energy levels, being able to get medical help, health and lifestyle.
Activities of Daily Living
Personal possessions that are important to individuals, how much individuals can use money for things they want or need.
The things that individuals are interested in learning about, and things that they enjoy and are important to them.
The choices and decisions individuals make about areas that matter to them in their life.
Autonomy & Personal Control
Goals & Personal Values
Type of support and help individuals get, relationships with family and friends, and the types of activities that individuals do with people in their life.
The activities and things individuals do and would like to do in the community, the people individuals do things with and places they go in their community.
Community Integration & Participation
Individuals’ right to privacy, how individuals are treated by people, how much individuals are listened to.
Tools to Facilitate Understanding of a Person’s Quality of Life
Making Action Plans (MAPs)
Developed by John O’Brien, Marsha Forest, Jack Pearpoint and David Hasbury, it is a planning approach that asks people and their families to respond to a series of planning questions to form an action plan to work towards their dream.
A MAP is typically used in a meeting lasting 2-3 hours with the person and those close to her. It can also be used one-to-one. If used in a meeting, it is essential that there are two facilitators – one to guide the process and the second to record it graphically. The MAP process has eight steps that help people to find their way through unknown territory or help people to see where they are now and where they need to go.
Developed by John O’Brien, Marsha Forest, and Jack Pearpoint, this is an approach using graphics and other methods to help people find direction and build strengths.
PATH can be used as a planning style with individuals and with organisations. When used in person-centred planning, the focus person and the people he/she wants to invite meet together with two facilitators to work through the process.
PATH works well when an individual has a group of people around them who are committed to making things happen. Using the PATH process enables people to understand and take control of the situation.
Developed by Michael Smull and Susan Burke-Harrison, this is a planning process often carried out when others are invited to help someone plan. While the person is the starting focus for all planning, others can be involved with supporting someone to realize their plan, including family members, networks and circles of support.
The Charting the LifeCourse Framework was created BY FAMILIES to help individuals and families of all abilities and all ages develop a vision for a good life, think about what they need to know and do, identify how to find or develop supports, and discover what it takes to live the lives they want to live. Individuals and families may focus on their current situation and stage of life but may also find it helpful to look ahead to think about life experiences that will help move them toward an inclusive, productive life in the future.
Even though it was originally created for people with disabilities, this universally-designed framework may be used by any person or family making a life plan, regardless of life circumstances.
Personal Futures Planning was developed by Beth Mount and John O’Brien. It is one of the earliest planning processes and includes a detailed look at the person’s past as well as his or her present and future. This approach also looks at ways to build capacity in a person’s community. Focus is on the individual in the first instance – but a group of people is enlisted to develop ideas on how to make the person’s dream a reality.
Person Centred Thinking Tools (HSA Canada)
Person-centred thinking tools are a set of easy to use templates that are used to give structure to conversations. Using them is a practical way to capture information that feeds into care and support planning, as well as to improve understanding, communication and relationships.
All people need to know their rights. The Your Life, Your Rights book and handbook were published by Estevan Diversified Services (EDS) to ensure that all clients know their Rights for Life. This Clear Language Book of Rights aims to help everyone to know the rights that all people have and empower people to have choice and control in their own lives.
Supported Decision Making is a process for supporting individuals to make their own decisions. We all use a form of Supported Decision Making to guide our choices at some time or another, such as when we consult with our spouses, family members, or professionals for advice. Supported Decision Making is required when supporting individuals with intellectual disabilities.