Person-centred care in practice to improve a client’s quality of life

Rachel Walton and Tony Dennison offer a personal account of using the Planning Alternative Futures with Hope tool to fulfil the goals of a man with cerebral palsy, autism and visual impairment. As a learning disability nursing student, this article’s principle author (RW) worked with a man with a learning disability and autism, his family and care staff to develop a person-centred care plan based on the Planning Alternative Tomorrows with Hope tool. The staff team were open and responsive to this work and it is clear that the service user concerned has benefited from it and that his quality of life has improved. This article describes the background, development and delivery of the care plan from the author’s point of view.