
Behavioural Support Program
Positive Behaviour Support is an evidence-based approach with the primary goal of increasing a person’s quality of life and a secondary goal of decreasing the frequency and severity of their behaviours of concern. Difficult behaviours are messages that can tell us important information about a person and the quality of his/her life. They may engage in challenging behaviour to tell us something is wrong or missing and they need assistance to make it better. Positive Behaviour Support is a comprehensive approach to assessment, planning and intervention that focuses on addressing the person’s needs, their environment and overall quality of life. Positive Behaviour Support is about working with families and carers to develop a shared understanding about why the person has a need to engage in challenging behaviour. Positive Behaviour Support Strategies are practices that aim to prevent the occurrence of behaviours of concern by minimising and understanding the triggers of the behaviours.
Strategies are put in place to:
Promote improved quality of life for for the person
Manage the ecology of the client to reduce the presence
of and/or response to behaviour triggers
Use focused strategies to help reduce behaviours of
concern in the short-term.
Teach appropriate behaviours and other life skills
(such as coping with change, anger management, etc),
Design effective strategies for families, day program staff
and carers to prevent crisis, but also to respond
appropriately to crisis when they happen
Establish effective strategies to support lasting behaviour change.
Essential components of the positive behaviour support
intensive program are preventative strategies, the instruction
of replacement skills, new ways to respond to behaviours
of concern, and outcome goals.