Most organizations have some person and family-centered practices already. These should be identified and built up. Below are a small list of the many approaches to supporting people with mental illnesses and co-occurring disorders that fit in well with an overall person and family-centered approach.
In addition, things like relative placements for foster care and support of the rights of siblings in foster care to see each other are person and family-centered practices. Collaboration and referral between clinical organizations those focused on education, support, and advocacy (National Alliance on Mental Illnesses, Mental Health Minnesota, Minnesota Association of Children’s Mental Health, Minnesota Organization of Fetal Alcohol Syndrome, etc.) is another. Supporting people and families to develop a WRAP or engage in other person-centered planning processes is another. This is a small sample of strong processes to build from.
If organization are already engaging in activities such as employer or participant surveys, or organization advisory committees, they should look to see how affective they are. They should look to see if the information is actually used and how. They should consider how these voices are shaping services and improving them. Adjusting processes to be more meaningful is one way to gain more information and use it better without additional cost. However, if people are used to these approaches having little meaning, trust-building must take place. This can take time and effort and good communication.
Make sure that every part of employee expectations helps create a person and family-centered environment. Consider things like the following as far as internal and contracted employees:
Other things to consider include hiring peers as part of your workforce. Staff, including managers, and leaders should include members of cultural communities that needs services. Staff training is important. But they also need time for other related activities. These efforts include intra and interagency collaboration on teams or committees.
An organization that is undergoing changes needs regular communication with people affected. This step is often surprisingly often forgotten. People do not like changes for which they are unprepared. They also want a voice in changes. Ongoing, frequent, and two-way communication is important to keep people aware and decrease distress or confusion during changes.