A very positive experience at the end of an exciting year!

I was recently invited to an open evening at our service in Wheathampstead which was hosting the annual “meet Santa” for the local children, organised by the Rotarians. It was a great evening and there was a real sense of community with the people living at the service central to all that was going on. This was really pleasing to see and during the evening what struck me most was how MacIntyre colleagues, despite all the fun and commotion, were so positively engaged with and focused on each individual to maximise their enjoyment and inclusion.

The facilitation skill level was fantastic; not just from colleagues working at Wheathampstead but also those of colleagues from other visiting services. It was very noticeable how people were thinking about their interactions (not just because I was there- honest!); adjusting their body position, being creative about how to engage in activities, observing how people were responding etc and just being totally engaged. I was really impressed by colleagues old and new interacting at such a high level of skill.

It didn’t surprise me to learn later that the local manager, Kirsty Peachey, had herself facilitated an away day for her team to focus on the development of Great Interactions. Clearly this had worked, it was no coincidence, but the result of positive action and training and the people being supported were getting the benefit.

So a very positive experience at the end of an exciting year of MacIntyre’s Great Interactions work and one which I believe is being replicated throughout the organisation. We have still only started this journey and I am really encouraged by reading so many interesting and thoughtful contributions from people using this blog- a big thank you to all. Having reflected on our learning for the year we will start 2012 with some fresh ideas and I look forward to it being Great Interactions gold medal year!

Bill Mumford, Managing Director

Sharing - It's the way that we do it!

Having recently attended the ‘Advanced Great Interactions’ training with my fellow senior colleagues, we decided it would be of great benefit to our service, the people we support and the support staff to use ‘Great Interactions’ as a regular agenda at our team meetings.

We wanted to be sure that all staff were aware of:

‘What makes a Great Interaction?’

At first some staff were unsure, but once we explained the course, re-discussed the e-learning modules, and the Great Interactions booklets we had been given, we really got the ball rolling.

We reminded staff of the 10 facilitation skills and discussed how we use these, and can improve on using them, on a daily basis. As seniors we have found these discussions really useful. We ask staff to reflect on what skills they have used or could be using more of and we look for ways to improve our interactions.

We found the exercise ‘Care vs Support’ really useful as it promoted discussion and got the team thinking about how we involve people in everyday things.

Fortnightly, we take what we have learned to the staff team to share and others bring their own positive approaches and ideas. Now as a team we feel able to use the phrase ‘It ain’t what you do, it’s the way that you do it!’ with confidence.

Team meetings are beginning to be a turning point at Crosby Close and we are able to evidence that we are great at ‘Great Interactions’, and still trying to improve!

We would like to share some photos with you as we think that sharing our pictures, ideas and learning is how we can all get better at ‘Great Interactions’.

Lucy Watson, Senior Support Worker

We all count!

My name is Martin Oakey I am Training and Development Officer for the Reps On Board project in Derbyshire. I have been working for MacIntyre for almost 5 years.

Before that I went to a Day Centre for 20 years. When I was there some members of staff spoke to me as if I were a kid. They would tower above me, order me about, and even pat me. It was hardly a Great Interaction! I didn’t feel I got respect from some of the staff there.

Now that I’m working I have noticed that people treat me in a very different way. People speak to me in an adult way. I feel I get treated with respect. No-one would dream of patting me or raising their voice to order me about now!

I have learned a lot from working in MacIntyre. I am over 6 foot tall, and I have learned that if I’m not careful, I too can tower above the people I am supporting. I have learned to sit down so that we are at the same eye level.

So maybe I’ve changed the way I behave a little and have become more responsible. But I’m still me - Martin Oakey. I still have a learning disability.

When I go back to visit my old Day Centre I have found that everyone treats me in an adult way. Suddenly I seem to count - but we all count and that’s my message.

We all count.

Martin Oakey

Training and Development Officer, Reps on Board

(with support from Alison Wright)

The 10 skills give me confidence!

One afternoon, I was due to take a communication session with a student called Millie. The session incorporated some new activities which could either be successful or unsuccessful, but I was optimistic about actually delivering the session!

Whenever I deliver sessions, I always have the key facilitation skills from the Great Interactions book, in my mind, as I believe they are the key to successful communication and positive interactions.

Millie has a cheeky sense of humour which means we have a common ground to start from! She is often very 'bubbly' and loves to make people laugh or share a joke.

This session revolved around using a smart board. The outline of the session was for Millie to use her hand to rub off a coloured pen mark, in order to reveal a picture. Millie would look at the picture and use the corresponding Makaton sign to communicate this to me. I would then sign back and we would move onto the next picture.

Millie has really loved this session and her confidence in signing has increased tenfold since September. Not only this, but it has also helped her to simultaneously develop her vocalisation of words, which is fantastic to hear. By supporting Millie with these opportunities to practice and develop her skills, Millie is now interacting and initialising conversations with her peers and staff on a regular basis. This is real progress, a huge achievement from when she first attended college, where she appeared timid, shy and unresponsive to many things. Taking time to get to know Millie and making the session interesting for her has really paid off.

I also believe that it is just as important to remember that each person we support is different and unique, as we are as support staff. This means that there are many rules but also many exceptions to each session... what works for one person may not work for another, so of course, if at first you don't succeed, try, try again!

There are breakthroughs.

There are setbacks.

That's life, and I love being a part of both because each presents their own rewards and challenges.

Emily Wheeler

Curriculum Co-ordinator, MAP College

MacIntyre Roadshows 2011

Wow! What an amazing year!

Roadshows are about celebrating success, sharing best practice and new ideas, making new friends and spending time with old ones.

This year we took our two Skills for Care Accolades, won for our Great Interactions work, on tour to every Roadshow, enabling everyone to feel a real sense of achievement.

Great Interactions is a key theme that runs throughout the whole day. It is an integral part of everything we do from the minute we welcome people right through to our accessible and interactive stands and workshops, which are based on diverse themes ranging from ‘My Volunteer’ to showing staff how to just spend time with someone in our sensory space.

Thank you to everyone who helped to make the MacIntyre Roadshows a success. Whether you helped someone to share their story, had a stand or joined in on the day, your support is very much appreciated.

I hope you enjoy the film.

Jenny Monaghan
Practice Development Facilitator

AND THEN........

Approaching the end of a very busy day... you know the kind I mean... so much to do and it still feels like you have had little impact on the to do list! Not as much time engaging with people as you would like...

AND THEN... John needs support with his personal care before he gets his transport home. You and a colleague assist him to get up from his chair. John starts conversing in his own special way... bup, bup, bup - you respond, repeating exactly what he has said, he looks at you, beams, reaches up and puts his arms around you. You reach out and do the same. You are both looking at each other, arms remaining in place... bup, bup, bup - He smiles, you smile, linked together.

AND THEN...... you realise why you love doing what you do, why there is very little that can beat this feeling.

John... Thanks for reminding me of what is really important. You are the best teacher I will ever have!

It’s these little moments that are really big!

Jayne MacKinder

Senior Learning Support Worker, Chesterfield

It’s the way that we do it, in Family Footings

The Family Footings project is all about empowering families to use person centred approaches but to ensure success we know that we have to be facilitative; we have to have Great Interactions.

Sometimes, in order for the people we support to experience really Great Interactions from a larger number of people, we may have to take a step back. By stopping and thinking we may learn more about the person, and by recording that learning, using person centred thinking tools, we enable other people involved in the person’s life to interact with them in a great way also.

I have been supporting families to write one page profiles with their children who are about to start at a new school. This is a daunting time for all parents but when your son or daughter has a track record of being bullied because of their disability, that becomes something to really worry about.

The one page profiles will not give every detail of how to have Great Interactions with each of the children, but it will provide a solid foundation to be able to learn about them and continuously improve on the quality of interactions.

In order to have Great Interactions with each individual person that we work with, we need to have a culture of really listening to their words and behaviour, learning, and responding on a continual basis. That’s what we do in Family Footings.

Lowri Bartrum

Family Footings Facilitator

From big to small . . .

Julian has been attending services in Chesterfield for many years now, he was one of around 180 learners who attended the large day centre ‘Ringwood’ when MacIntyre took over supporting individuals in Chesterfield and NE Derbyshire.

This story tells of the change from a traditional large day centre to a smaller community based hub and the positive impact that, and our way of working, has had on Julian’s life.

Julian spent a lot of his time in Ringwood not doing a great deal, preferring to sit alone or in a very small group of friends throughout the day. He showed little or no interest in joining activities.

Julian was supported to make an informed choice as to which new hub he wished to attend and following a thorough consultation he elected to move to the New Square hub in the centre of Chesterfield.

In the early days at New Square Julian continued to not engage with either activities or staff, continuing as he had been doing for many years now. However, slowly, and with lots of small and positive interactions from staff, Julian started to express more and more interest in participating and staff identified that Julian wanted to learn how to make a hot drink.

Julian did not always vocalise when he wished to make a drink and at times would attempt to do it independently. This was congratulated by staff and positive encouragement was given along with appropriate support to ensure Julian was aware of the potential risks associated with the task. The staff team were required to be extra observant in recognising when Julian wished to make a drink so that they could respond and offer the appropriate support. After about 3 months Julian was able to make drinks independently and safely, and he continues to do so.

Julian's success within this task has resulted in him wishing to make further developments and become more involved in the running of the hub. He is now an active member of the kitchen team that cleans down after lunch, helping with the washing up, and is starting to attend the weekly hub meetings.

Julian’s development over the last year has been tremendous and proven beyond any doubt that working in a facilitative way, in a smaller setting with a person centred focus and positive re-enforcement, has enabled him to become more independent and start to fulfil some of his goals. Each member of the staff team has played their part in Julian’s development and continues to do so. He has acted as an inspiration to everyone and we are all very excited about the future development of the learners we support across the Chesterfield hubs.

Simon Birds
Senior Learning Support Worker, Chesterfield

Bread and butter issues

Q: What’s the best thing since sliced bread?

A: Toast

I recently attended the next wave of Great Interactions training.

As an activity, we worked out that...

...there are 52 steps to making a piece of toast.

From removing the lid of the bread bin...

...FIFTY TWO STEPS...

...to achieving mouth wateringly, worth every effort, hot buttered toast!

So what now?

If making toast requires 52 steps, then other ‘bread and butter’ activities may need to be made into steps too. For example, ‘breakfast time’ requires many steps, an array of supporting signs and visual prompts, as well as clear and concise verbal support.

We continue to support in a way which enables everyone to be included and develop skills, no matter what they are doing.

Our understanding of the next wave of great interactions and facilitating to support continual progression, alongside our signing skills, provide the concept and framework for this.

What follows is just one example of our NEW communication tool; ‘Pictures Paint’, which seeks to communicate to everyone, every time, the important steps of any particular routine.

By breaking down what we are trying to achieve into steps, it is much more likely that we will have success. The person is being actively involved, taking control and learning new skills. It’s definitely about the small things. Step by step.

The next step for us is...

‘Putting a key into a lock, turning it and opening a door’,

Certainly more control...

...but that’s another ‘Pictures Paint’

Roma Taylor, Senior Support Worker

Great Interactions in Action

There is a small, but very well formed staff team at Oxford Lifelong Learning; one that is conscientious, hard-working and committed to providing the best possible support for the people who access the Learning Centre. Seeing the Great Interactions policy being taken on board so fully, and implemented into everything within the Learning Centre, has given me great pleasure. Staff, volunteers and students have also enthusiastically welcomed the policy and the Great Interactions book.

But it is seeing Great Interactions in action that has moved me most and I want to share an example of this.

I was supporting ‘The Friendship Ring’ at one of their Tuesday sessions and it was a musical night of, singing, dancing and playing instruments. Everyone was having fun and beginning to relate to each other in a deeper way, but I was struck by one particular interaction that I saw taking place. One of our learners finds it harder to step forward and tends to hold back from full engagement in activities, but this all changes when he can share in the fun of making music. What impressed me so much was seeing how the principles of Great Interactions turned what might have been a solitary and internalised pleasure into an outgoing, sharing, and empowering activity. I saw eye contact, positioning, warmth, creativity, responsiveness, and good communication turn a lone individual into a fully participant member of a music group.

There can be no doubt that when we experience ‘Great Interactions’ we are left feeling satisfied and valued. However, the benefits are not just for the recipients of consciously or naturally inspired Great Interactions, but also for those of us that put it into practise. I have seen how it gives us a valuable key to unlock the potential that all our learners have within them.

Penny Canwell
Locality Manager

I thought I would tell you about an exciting piece of work in East Lancashire.

MacIntyre’s PCP project champions Person Centred Approaches across East Lancashire. An important part of what we do is to monitor the quality of people’s plans. As you know the quality of a plan is not judged by the mere fact that someone has a plan or how good it looks but rather on the quality of the day to day support (interactions) someone experiences and the outcomes they achieve. Person Centred approaches and Great Interactions are not separate activities but are intertwined and reliant on each other.

This work is being carried forward by the Quality group. The group’s members are people who have experience of receiving services and are representatives of East Lancashire’s self advocacy group ELSUN and MacIntyre’s PCP coordinators.

When the coordinators joined MacIntyre they were inducted in Great Interactions and since have applied this in all of their work. They are now using their knowledge and skills to train the reps ensuring that they are truly involved, contribute to and lead the work of the group.

The group themselves are then supported to use the facilitation skills when they visit people at their services

• to gather their views and experiences of Person centred approaches
• to find evidence of Great Interactions in the way people are supported through the planning process and their day to day support.
• to act as role models

What makes this so exciting is that Great Interactions is integral to all parts of the process, and provides the means to get a true picture of the quality of person centred approaches from the view point of the people themselves. This information will help us to understand what is and isn’t working enabling us to focus our efforts to ensure that positive changes happen for all.

Catherine Farrell

Person Centered Approaches Advisor

Family Fun for All

This week Nottingham No Limits held a family fun day in Bilborough, Nottingham. We invited all of the families we support, along with other providers, disability groups, and local people. Attractions included face painting, fencing, peddle boats, and cycle powered smoothies. We had hoped for around 200 visitors, so we were delighted when the final count was over 460. The success of this event led me to reflect on the journey we have travelled in establishing our children and young people’s provision in Nottingham.

The No Limits ethos of empowering young people was instrumental in winning the Nottingham contract. It’s what makes us stand out from other ‘home care’ providers. As the service becomes established, the challenge for us is to deliver outcomes in an outputs focussed world, in a scenario that amplifies all of the challenges of personalisation e.g. a disparate workforce, tight costs, geography etc.

Using person centred approaches, we ask families “what makes your lives difficult and how can we help?” Some people just want respite, and we can offer staff to look after their child so that they can take a short break. However by inducting and coaching our staff to work in a facilitative way, we offer support that goes beyond this, and the outcome of these interactions is increased choice and control for the individual. This often leads to a shift in thinking from “I need a break”, to “What can I do with my child’s provision to help them develop and achieve?”

We help families to see that the outcome of these day to day interactions can be really profound. For example, a practitioner engaging with a child through play, for the child to have fun whilst learning cause and effect, and new words like ’again’ in the case one young man. I wonder how often in his life he’ll use that word to get something he wants? What a great outcome.

Seeing these successes has helped families trust us and try new things. For example a young man used his support to go to a festival with a friend, a real world experience that challenges existing models of support. To quote a commissioner speaking to a parent about their options; “you can chose x for home care, x for respite, or MacIntyre who can do everything.”

There may be some scepticism about the Great Interactions Policy and some may be reluctant to buy into the concept. It’s when people see the outcomes of everyday great interactions that they recognise the true value.

Rachelle Russell
Project Manager, No Limits

Leading the life that I want

I had the great pleasure recently of being invited to Michael's review; Michael has lived at the Haddons since 2005. Everyone at this years review, including myself, were all very pleased to be part of such a positive review.

You see for Michael the support he receives really enables him to lead a full and active life. There was a catalogue of wonderful pictures that Michael had chosen to put on posters to show everyone just what he had been up to in the past year, including photos at work, days out, holidays and the works Christmas party.

Michael was so proud to share his successes with everyone at his review and the list of these was endless. None of these things would have happened if the people around Michael didn't listen to him and support him to lead the life he wants to.

It's easy sometimes to focus on the big goals that are set with people but I feel it's all the little things, the small touches, and people going the extra mile, which made this review an example of Great Interaction's at its best! For me and the people supporting Michael this is why continue to do what we do - ensuring that the people we support do get the very best!

Sadie Scott
Project Manager, The Haddons

Are you sure it's for me?

To people like me who sit in our central administration building, away from the many interactions taking place between staff in our services and the people they are supporting, ‘Great Interactions’ can seem a bit theoretical - more like a management exercise than the way of working which is at the core of what we do.

But one of the strengths of Great Interactions is that it is about so much more than training frontline workers to be better at their jobs. At its heart, Great Interactions focuses on dignity and respect, and how people foster that in each other. This means it is relevant to everyone in an organisation, whether they directly support people or not.

So just think, for a moment, about the interactions that underpin your working day: How do you speak to your co-workers? How do you ask for information? How do you give information? How do people feel after they have spent time with you?

And then imagine what would change if you listened more, observed more, reflected more?

And then do it!

Kathryn Bodenham
Head of Marketing

The smallest things . . .

Sometimes the smallest things have the greatest impact, and this is certainly true of a situation I found myself in last week when I arrived at 6am at a person’s home to complete an observation of Suzanne, a member of staff.

When I arrived Suzanne was supporting Adrian with his breakfast routine. Adrian appeared relaxed and happy, which was clearly a result of the way Suzanne was interacting with and responding to him. Using a range of facilitation skills, she kept her tone of voice low and gentle, her body language open, and positioned herself perfectly throughout the entire interaction, making sure that breakfast time remained calm, relaxed, unrushed and peaceful.

Adrian took full control and made informed choices about his breakfast. The pace was perfect and clearly suited him. Support was offered at the right time and only when requested.

Whilst writing this I appreciate that in order to understand the significance of this interaction, you really need to know Adrian to fully grasp what a wonderful moment I was fortunate enough to experience.

There was genuine warmth in the relationship between the two, which was clearly reflective and responsive. When I left it was clear to me that Adrian was feeling very happy and relaxed and I suddenly realized that if I, or a member of my family, needed support with breakfast, then what I had just witnessed, was exactly how I’d like it to be – with respect, offering choice and control and being there to support and guide me, and not to do things that I can do for myself.

Moreover, thanks to Adrian and Suzanne, they weren’t the only ones who’d experienced a great start to their day!

Tina Murray

Area Manager

Practise, practise, practise.

One of the biggest challenges I am facing at the moment is how to explain the concept of Great Interactions to people. Since we began this journey I have been involved in so many conversations about what a Great Interaction is and how this makes MacIntyre different, however I am still practising and testing out how I can communicate the subtleties that make a good interaction a great one. We all know a Great Interaction when we see one but how often do we take the time to think about what it was that made it so great?

I recently joined the MacIntyre “Big Hike” where a group of people supported by MacIntyre, MacIntyre employees and friends walked the Pennine Way. It was wonderful to be a part of such a great activity and also to see people try something new with people from all over the country that they had never met before. The hiking presented many challenges to everyone and I was amazed at the interactions I witnessed during the hike. The thing I noticed more than anything was the ability of people to be flexible and adapt their practice to support anyone in that group. I saw people working really hard to ensure their positioning was good which is really tough when you are walking along a high ridge on slippery terrain! I noticed how the tone of a person’s voice was different in the morning as we set out on our hike compared to those last few miles of the day when the person they were supporting was tired and needed encouragement. I saw great eye contact as people worked together to pitch their tents on uneven ground. I also felt the warmth that seemed to radiate throughout the group and how this created a feeling of equality. Everyone learned from each other during the hike and we all had a chance to practise something. For some of us it was practising reading a map, cooking on a camping stove or packing a rucksack but for all of us it was another chance to practise how we interact.

As time has gone on, it has struck me that we can all be good at something and do something well but actually, for most of us we need to practise to become great at anything. If we are all to be great interactors we need to practise at every opportunity, after all, for something to become a part of us, it needs to be something that is central to everything we do, every day.

By always thinking about and working hard to improve our interactions, it is not only the people MacIntyre supports who benefit but also other people we come into contact with daily. I am confident that as more and more people who have no connection to MacIntyre or Social Care witness our behaviours and our interactions and see the value we place on these, we will see our communities respond and more natural support networks emerging in our society, especially around those people who are most vulnerable.

Anna O’Mahony
Head of Operations