The La Trobe Support for Decision Making Practice Framework, or the Framework for short, provides:
- The foundations for effective decision making support
- A highly practical approach for supporters to follow
- Steps, Principles and Strategies.
The Framework is shown in Figure 1.
This talk video introduces you to the Framework.
Decisions and Decision Making
Everyone needs support to make decisions.
Decision making is an everyday part of life. We are always making decisions. We can make decisions on our own, or involve the people around us.
A decision is when you have more than one option to pursue. It is not only about exercising choice. Although choice making is one part of decision making, it does not necessarily lead to a decision. This is because the choice may not be acted upon, or it might only comprise a small part of the decision.
Some people think about decisions as being big or small. Big decisions may include a career change or where to live, while small decisions may include deciding what to wear today, what to eat for breakfast, or what movie to see. However, the size of a decision does not always reflect how significant it is to a person's quality of life.
The decisions we make are informed by our preferences and by the opportunities available. These are constantly changing. Decision making is therefore dynamic. What we may have decided yesterday may be different to what we will decide tomorrow or in many years’ time. Our decisions change as we grow, evolve and mature.
For people with cognitive disabilities, particularly people with severe and profound disabilities, decisions are often made for them, by others, on their behalf. Yet, decision making is a fundamental human right – everyone has the right to participate in decision making.
Why was the Framework Developed?
This video talk explains the development of the Framework:
Making decisions about one’s own life is important to personal well-being. It is one way of controlling your life and ensuring your own preferences and values take priority. People with cognitive disabilities gain the same benefits as others from making decisions.
Benefits of decision making for people with cognitive disabilities includes increased:
- Sense of self-identity
- Quality of life
- Psychological wellbeing
The Framework has been developed as a resource for those who support people with cognitive disabilities. It describes a process that you can use to enable the person you support to make or participate in decisions and participate in the many different types of decisions that affect the way they live their life.
How was the Framework Developed?
This Framework was developed by searching for the best available evidence that demonstrated the nature of support for decision making provided to people with cognitive disabilities.
An extensive literature review was undertaken, as well as interviews and observations to explore the experiences that people with cognitive disabilities and their supporters had of the decision support process.
The Framework has been piloted with disability support workers and disability professionals in training workshops. Revisions have been made so that the Framework can be understood and applied to supporting people in many different contexts.
This rigorous approach has resulted in a Framework which is:
- Evidence-based: it is based on thorough research about what is known about decision support in the area of cognitive disability
- Authentic: it incorporates the lived experiences of people with cognitive disability and their supporters
- Practical: the Framework has been tested and can be applied in practice.
A presentation about the Framework delivered by Professor Christine Bigby can be accessed from the Module Resources section.
Using the Framework: It's Dynamic
This learning resource will show you how to apply the Framework when supporting a person with cognitive disability to make a decision.
This video presents how the Framework is used in practice.
The way you use the Framework will depend upon the situation you are in, including the type of support role you have. The Framework is dynamic which means that you can adapt it to suit your situation. You may move backwards and forwards between the different steps.
When providing support, for example, you may reach Step 3, and come to realise that you need to know more about the person to fully support their decision. This will mean that you re-visit Step 1, and then return to Step 3 and continue from there.
Also, depending upon the situation, you might call upon some strategies more than others and maybe only at certain times when providing support. In this way, the Framework is designed to be used dynamically. This concept will be made clearer as you work through the modules and activities in this resource.
We all make decisions every day. A good way of understanding decision making is to think about how you do it for yourself.
Thinking about yourself, answer the following questions. Write in the downloadable workbook located in the Resources section.
Thinking about yourself, answer the following questions. Write in the downloadable workbook located in the Resources section.
- Who are the people you go to for support when making a significant decision (e.g., changing jobs)?
- What are the main characteristics of these people that make you seek them out?
- Describe what sort of support you expect from these people when making a decision.
Summary Module 2
Developing an understanding about the La Trobe Support for Decision Making Practice Framework and how to use it will assist you to support someone with cognitive disability to make decisions.
In this module, you have learnt that the La Trobe Support for Decision Making Practice Framework:
- Was developed using an evidence-based approach
- Is designed to be used dynamically
- Is a process you can use to support people with cognitive disabilities to make decisions.