Person Centred Approaches

Rights not Charity

Northcott’s journey in becoming a greater person centred organisation has been shaped by the significant social changes in Australia and the world, as Kerry Stubbs, Northcott CEO, observes:

“The great social justice movements of the last 100 years have brought about enormous changes in the way we look at the rights of individuals in our society to be free and able to live their lives according to their own desires and to make the most of their skills and talents. While we as a community have agreed in principle that those rights extend to people with a disability, we have put up enormous barriers that prevent people from taking their rightful places as full members of our society.

Strategic Change

Northcott undertook a review of the cultural and structural organisational change needed to reduce the barriers to person centred progress. Click here for a report on ‘Implementing Personalisation at Northcott’.

One recommendation was to support internal leaders or ‘Champions’ and in the past year Northcott has supported 35 clients and staff to become Person Centred Champions. Their role is to inspire and influence others within the organisation and in the wider community. The Champions developed a PATH plan, with one of the goals to influence Northcott’s Strategic Plan Click here to Champions PATH. A few months later, Northcott developed its 2011 – 2014 Strategic Plan, which commits to driving a ‘dynamic person centred workforce, workplace and culture’.

Champions leading the change

By empowering the people that we support with additional skills and knowledge, Northcott hopes that people reach and achieve their personal goals. Michelle feels “Empowered and confident in being able to develop plans for my son which will meet his needs as an individual”. For Shirley, another Champion; person centredness means, “I have control and new found independence”.

Sarah, reflects on the changes person centredness has brought her as a program co-ordinator: “It’s been a huge shift in thinking and a challenge to implement significant and deep rooted changes to the day to day running of the service”.

Person Centred Newsletters

You can keep up-to-date with the progress of clients and staff through Northcott’s Person Centred monthly newsletter. You can check them out here:

July 2011
August 2011
September 2011
October 2011
November 2011

January 2012
February 2012
March 2012
April 2012
May 2012
June 2012
July 2012
August 2012
September 2012
October 2012

February 2013
March 2013
April 2013

May 2013

Future challenges

Kerry Stubbs, Northcott’s CEO, challenges Northcott staff to question the person-centredness of their service:   “Everything we do as a service provider should ask the question – ‘Are we providing this service because it works for the client, or for some other reason? Northcott is committed to becoming a place where we question ourselves constantly, and ask our clients to question us too. Putting the client at the centre of our work means that we accept that they know best what works for them, and we are here to help them achieve it.”

If you have any enquires about Northcott’s person centred journey, please contact Liz Hopkins at: pduenquiries@northcott.com.au