Decision skills

Supporting Rights, Independence and Choice in Disability Support

One of three CORA capability areas · about a 3-minute read

Rights are easy to agree with in a policy and hard to hold at four in the afternoon when a family member is on the phone and the routine is slipping. These four skills are about what a worker does when the person's choice is inconvenient.

The 4 skills in this area

  • Hold the LineKeep the person's rights and choices steady under pressure (family, org, routine, peers).
  • Honour the RiskSupport dignity of risk and informed choice even when you'd choose differently.
  • Open CommunicationMake space for the person's voice and choice, don't take over, pressure, or assume.
  • Step BackBuild independence, do with, not for; resist over-helping.

Each page covers what the skill looks like on a shift, what it looks like when it slips, three things to try, and where the judgement stops being yours alone to make. They are written to be read in a break, not studied.

The other capability areas:

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