Why is working on what matters important? Organisations that seek to understand what is important to each person are better able to tailor support to help people change the desired behaviour and reach their goals.
If people identify what is important to them and what goals they want to work on, they are more likely to take action. This might seem obvious, but many of our health and care systems are set up to offer standardised solutions to people, with little room for tailoring support. Starting conversations with ‘what’s important to you and what do you want to work on?’ might feel quite different to some practitioners who are used to working with directive approaches.
People should be supported and encouraged to set goals relating to any aspect of their lives that are important to them, such as physical and mental health, work and finances, or family and social life. As mentioned in Social connections, goals can also be collective (a group of people who care about achieving the same thing)
Once people have decided on their goals they should be supported to create plans for reaching them, building on their strengths, interests, achievements and wider social support networks. Where organisations feel unable to support people with particular goals (for instance, a care leaver who mentions to their GP they need help accessing specific benefits), they should aim to connect the person to organisations that can help.
Working on what matters:
Using the information above, start to brainstorm ideas to try out in your organisation or community. Think about how to co-design ideas with other practitioners and people in the local community who could benefit from Good Help. Use the map below to help you test and develop your ideas.
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