OCM Blog
Client/consumer avoidance …. not ready, lacking insight or just too hard?
Perhaps there is more to it?
Click here or continue to scroll down to read the full post.
Experiences inform us that some people will fit into one or all of the above, however, many more clients/consumers of health and support services will have a very different context to their avoidance. Us!
When was the last time you asked a person,
“What has been helpful in the way your support and treatment has been provided ?
What has not been helpful?
You might be surprised at the answers.
George Engel developed ‘the 4 P’s’ approach to clinical formulation (personal and contextual understanding of historical and present factors that influence a person in some way).
This approach captures unique factors and their relationship to the subject.
This same approach though can also be used to ‘formulate’ the health and function of a service, provider or team. Doing so opens all sorts of interesting insights into how ‘service provision’ can unintentionally contribute to client/consumer avoidance.
Some examples of service factors that can perpetuate barriers to client-service collaboration :
Take home message:
Before we observe that ‘they are avoidant’, perhaps we could ask: are we unintentionally contributing?
Learn more about the use of the 4P’s and it’s potential role in understanding ‘what is functioning and not functioning?’ within a given service/provider/team/structure/relationship.
After all, we ‘practitioners of support and treatment’ wouldn’t want to be accused of being AVOIDANT!
Perhaps there is more to it?
Click here or continue to scroll down to read the full post.
Experiences inform us that some people will fit into one or all of the above, however, many more clients/consumers of health and support services will have a very different context to their avoidance. Us!
When was the last time you asked a person,
“What has been helpful in the way your support and treatment has been provided ?
What has not been helpful?
You might be surprised at the answers.
George Engel developed ‘the 4 P’s’ approach to clinical formulation (personal and contextual understanding of historical and present factors that influence a person in some way).
- Predisposing factors - historical
- Precipitating factors - impacting
- Perpetuating factors - maintaining
- Protective factors - helpful
This approach captures unique factors and their relationship to the subject.
This same approach though can also be used to ‘formulate’ the health and function of a service, provider or team. Doing so opens all sorts of interesting insights into how ‘service provision’ can unintentionally contribute to client/consumer avoidance.
Some examples of service factors that can perpetuate barriers to client-service collaboration :
- Lack of individualised care options despite the fact that ‘at the heart’ of the Recovery Approach movement is individualisation, autonomy and choice
- Poor understanding or consideration to the role of ‘anxiety’ in avoidance, compounded by demands and pressure to conform to expectations too early and too fast!
- Poor awareness of or consideration to personal trauma, “we’re not supposed to ask about their history in case it impacts them.”
- A focus on practical tasks as a priority over relationship nurturing with people for whom safety, trust, interpersonal relating and practical tasks are highly challenging or re-traumatising.
Take home message:
Before we observe that ‘they are avoidant’, perhaps we could ask: are we unintentionally contributing?
Learn more about the use of the 4P’s and it’s potential role in understanding ‘what is functioning and not functioning?’ within a given service/provider/team/structure/relationship.
After all, we ‘practitioners of support and treatment’ wouldn’t want to be accused of being AVOIDANT!
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