What does PCP mean in GENERAL

Person Centered Planning (PCP) is an individualized approach to long-term planning and service delivery that explores both the needs and dreams of people with a disability, as well as their gifts and strengths. PCP helps individuals understand what’s important in their life, set meaningful goals, and connect with resources.

The traditional approach typically starts by assessing deficits and then creates a plan to address those deficits. In contrast, the person centered approach begins by exploring the gifts/strengths of the individual first and building on these assets to achieve success.

No, PCP does not focus on behavior change. Rather, it is focused on understanding an individual's vision for their life - what they are passionate about achieving - so that supports can be developed accordingly.

Anyone who has a disability or chronic illness could benefit from PCP. Even if someone does not have a disability or chronic illness, it is still incredibly useful for helping them to plot out a path towards their goals.

It depends on how complex the plan needs to be, but generally it should not take more than two or three sessions to create a comprehensive plan. However, ongoing review meetings will need to be held in order to keep the plan up-to-date and relevant.

The primary benefit of PCP is its inclusionary nature; during planning all stakeholders have an opportunity to contribute in designing services that reflect each individual’s interests, talents and choices while also meeting basic service requirements. Other potential benefits include improved communication among stakeholders involved in providing supports/services and greater personal satisfaction for individuals receiving support services.

Typically, close family members or friends participate in creating a personally tailored plan for an individual with disabilities or other challenges. Other stakeholders such as case managers, advocates or medical providers may also be involved depending on the situation and needs of the individual being served.

Yes! Many studies have been conducted over the past decade which suggest that individuals utilizing Person Centred Planning demonstrate improvements in self-determination skills as well as positive outcomes related to overall goal attainment when compared with similar populations not employing this model of service delivery.

Once the plan has been created it should be monitored periodically – usually every 6 months – to ensure that goals are being achieved according to timeline specified within the document itself. Any necessary amendments or adaptations can then be made at these reviews based upon changes in circumstance or information received from other sources associated with an individual’s support network.

Challenges may arise during implementation due largely practical issues such as finding funding sources for services identified through plans or locating qualified personnel that possess necessary skillsets needed for providing prescribed supports recommended within plans themselves.