Coffee first .... or after the walk along the beach?

We’ve just got back from a great week in Kalbarri. To get a glimpse of how good it was have a look at the previous blog with some pictures I took from the cliffs of a pod of dolphins making their way along the coast.

My wife and I discussed the holidays, planned the venue and when we got there made a decision each day about how we would spend the day. Would we walk to the beach before sitting in the cafe overlooking the waterfront, or have the coffee first before walking to the beach? Decisions, decisions, decisions.

Self-determination is something that most of us take for granted in a whole lot of areas in our life, but there are those people who find themselves in a situation where they depend on someone else, often a carer or group of people employed by a supportive organisation, in relation to their day-to-day decisions.

Such organisations have an incredibly important responsibility when it comes to influencing the lives of the individuals who are in its care. In previous posts I have talked about the individual approach as one of the first principles in being person-centred. The second principle is self-determination. The question that caring organisations have to address in relation to self-determination is, how much do we support people to make informed decisions about their lifestyle?

There is sometimes an assumption that because people require support services of some kind they must, as a consequence, fit in with all the lifestyle requirements of that service. Often the assumption is based on the level of disability a person has and their perceived ability to make decisions for themselves.

I want to explore self-determination a little more over the next few posts. In the meantime, do you have any thoughts about the potential for people who are receiving care services to be self-determining? What are the barriers and how do we overcome these barriers? Please use the comments facility on this blog.

Dolphins at Kalbarri

Spotted this pod of dolphins at Kalbarri last week. Enjoy

NAIDOC Week

Today marks the beginning of NAIDOC Week, an event that has been celebrated in various forms since the 1920’s.

NAIDOC week has been introduced as a way of helping Australians to celebrate Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander culture and to honour the achievements of indigenous Australians.

Australia in the 21st century is a melting pot of people from many different cultures, but it is important that we have an understanding of the people who were custodians of this land before the rest of us, and to honour them.

I would encourage you to consider ways you can celebrate NAIDOC week, but at the very least, browse these websites, in order to gain a fuller understanding of Aboriginal culture.

http://www.indigenousaustralia.info/
http://www.naidoc.org.au/
http://www.reconciliation.org.au/