Giving control over how you live your life 
‘It’s Your Life’ is the easy to read version of our policy on person centred planning. North West believe this is one of our most important policies because it is about giving the people we support more choice and control over how they live their lives and how they are supported.
‘Person centred’ means doing things in a way that the person being supported wants them to be done and helps them to be a part of their community. If someone is at the centre of something, they are the most important person.
Person centred planning means putting the person at the centre of planning for their lives.
Person centred planning is about:
• Listening to what people want in their lives
• Helping people to think about what they want now and in the future
• Family, friends and services working together with the person to make this happen
• Helping people think about their dreams and wishes
• Helping people think about who is in their life, how to make and keep friendships and relationships
• Helping people to feel good about themselves and become more confident
• Helping people, with the help of people in their lives, work together to solve any problems the person might have in their life
• Helping people be important in the community they live in
The government brought out an important document called ‘Valuing People’, some people just call it the White Paper. This paper tells services like North West what they need to do to get better at supporting people, and what needs to happen to give people more choice in their lives. One of the most important parts of the paper is about making sure that person centred planning is used to make things better. The paper says that all people with learning disabilities must have the chance to find out about person centred planning. It also says that people should be able to put their plan together themselves, or with their family.
If you are someone who would like to get help or training about putting your own plan together, North West will help you to do this.
There are different types of person centred plans. Most of the people
that North West support, have the type of plan called an ‘Essential Lifestyle Plan’. An essential lifestyle plan tells people all about you, about the most important things in your life, and how you want to be supported.
Some types of plan are used to look more at the things you want to happen in the future, not just now.
There are other types of plan that use pictures instead of words, one of these is called a 
PATH. This stands for Planning Alternative Tomorrows with Hope. This type of plan looks at what your life is like now and what you would like it to be like in the future. Then it shows the things that need to be done to make these things happen.
Another type of plan using pictures is called a MAP. This lists the dreams you have and says what things would be like if your dreams came true. It also lists the things you would not want to happen, what would be a nightmare instead of a dream. Then it lists all of the things you and the people helping you put the plan together will need to do to make sure the dream happens and the nightmare doesn’t.
Some people draw what is called a Circle of Support. 
This lists the people who are important in your life and says what each person will do to help you live your life the way you want to. Whatever type of plan you choose to have, you will be supported to put your plan together. North West have people who are trained to help you write whichever type of plan you choose. The important thing to remember is that your plan belongs to you. If you want to, you will be helped to put your plan together yourself, or decide who will do this for you.
Putting a plan together is only the start of using plans. North West have to make sure that people listen to what your plan says and do the things it says are important. Your support team will have a plan of their own called a ‘Team Action Plan’. This will list all of the things your plan says you want to do and will say which person in your team will make sure they happen. You and your team will look at your plan all the time and make sure it stays up to date.