Our General Manager Amanda Wood shares her reflections on Behaviour Support Plans based on her 25 years in the field:
After more than 25 years working in behaviour support, writing plans and reviewing the work of other practitioners I’ve seen a wide range of approaches.
Some of those plans have been excellent. Well thought through, based on a clear understanding of the person, and backed by strong clinical reasoning. However, one thing has become very clear to me.
A well-written plan is no good unless it is actually used.
What I see again and again
When I review plans, there are two patterns that come up over and over. The first is plans that are good, sometimes really good, but just aren’t being implemented consistently.
They clearly explain the behaviour, they identify the likely reasons behind it, and they include appropriate strategies. The Practitioner has done a great assessment and really understood the person and their current needs and wants. However in practice, staff aren’t confident using them, or they’re only being applied some of the time. Different people are doing different things, and the consistency just isn’t there.
And when that happens, behaviour doesn’t change.
The second pattern is almost the opposite. Plans that try to do everything. They include multiple strategies, a range of goals, and a lot of detailed explanation, and usually with some jargon and academic language thrown in! On paper, they look very comprehensive. But when you step back and read them, you can often tell straight away This isn’t going to work in practice, and unless the behaviour practitioner is going to move in with the person and guide every interaction, which is obviously not realistic, and not what anyone wants ! there’s just too much for a team to consistently follow.
Let me give you a real-world example of what I mean
I was recently reviewing a behaviour support plan by a Practitioner for an adult living in a supported accommodation setting. On paper, it was a solid plan. It clearly described the behaviours, had a good understanding of why they were happening, and included a number of proactive strategies , things like putting consistent routines in place, giving early warnings before transitions, and supporting the person to communicate their needs more effectively. All of which were clinically appropriate.
But as I read through it, what stood out straight away was the number of strategies included. Support Workers were expected to follow different approaches across the day, adjust their response depending on subtle changes in behaviour, and use several teaching strategies at once. All in an environment where support workers rotated or were busy, and time pressures were very real.
You could see the problem immediately. When I spoke with the team, that’s exactly what was happening. Some support workers were trying to follow parts of the plan. Others weren’t confident and avoided using it altogether.
Not surprisingly, behaviour hadn’t changed in any meaningful way.
A contrasting example
On the other hand, I’ve also been involved in situations where behaviour support has worked really well, and interestingly, it’s rarely because the plan is more detailed.
In one case, a client in a supported living environment was experiencing regular escalation, particularly around changes to routine.
Instead of adding more into the plan, we actually stripped things back. The focus was on just a few key strategies. A consistent daily routine. Clear, simple transition supports, such as giving a predictable warning before a change. One agreed way of responding if things started to escalate. And a simple way for the person to communicate when they needed a break. That was it. Nothing overly complex. It was still clinically sound and met all regulatory requirements! But the difference was in how it was implemented.
Staff were walked through the approach. The strategies were explained in plain language. Everyone used the same response across shifts. And there was follow-up to make sure it was actually working. What changed wasn’t just the plan,it was the consistency. Staff felt more confident. The person knew what to expect. And over time, behaviours reduced, transitions became easier, and the overall environment stabilised.
A quick note on complexity
It’s important to say this isn’t about oversimplifying behaviour support. Many of the people we support have complex needs, and there are often multiple factors influencing what’s going on. It’s not always as straightforward as the example above. However even in more complex situations, the same principle still applies. If strategies aren’t clear, practical, and realistic for the environment, they won’t be implemented consistently. Without consistency, behaviour support won’t lead to meaningful change.
What this really comes down to Behaviour support doesn’t happen in a report. It happens in day-to-day interactions,in the home, in supported living environments, and in the way staff respond in the moment.
For it to work, strategies need to make sense in that context. They need to be understood, they need to be practical, and the people supporting the person need to feel confident using them. Because if they don’t, they simply won’t.
Final thought
Over the years, the biggest difference I’ve seen isn’t between “good” plans and “bad” plans. It’s between plans that are used, and plans that aren’t. Because behaviour support isn’t about having the most detailed document. It’s about having something that actually works in real life.
If you’d like to review a current plan, or talk through whether behaviour support for a client is working as intended, feel free to reach out.
