1.2 Explain how relationships with individuals and carers underpin person-centred practice and affect the achievement of positive outcomes for individuals and their families

This guide will help you answer 1.2 Explain how relationships with individuals and carers underpin person-centred practice and affect the achievement of positive outcomes for individuals and their families.

Person-centred practice means placing the individual at the centre of all decisions about their care and support. It guarantees that care meets the unique needs, wishes, and goals of each person. Relationships with individuals and their carers are the foundation for person-centred practice. These relationships influence whether positive outcomes are achieved for both individuals and their families.

What is Person-Centred Practice?

Person-centred practice requires placing the person’s strengths, preferences, and interests at the heart of all planning, decision-making, and delivery of support. It is about seeing beyond the diagnosis or the label. Instead, staff view every person as an individual, with their own voice.

Person-centred practice includes:

• Listening carefully to the person’s wishes.
• Supporting choice and control.
• Promoting independence and dignity.
• Encouraging the person to be involved in planning and reviewing their care.

Carers—these may be family, friends, or others who support the person—have their own unique knowledge, experience, and relationship with the individual. Working in partnership with them strengthens person-centred outcomes.

How Relationships Shape Person-Centred Practice

Strong relationships form the foundation for care that truly reflects the person’s preferences. Relationships built on trust, openness, and respect help staff to:

• Discover what really matters to the individual.
• Understand the person’s background, culture, and history.
• Develop personalised approaches to meeting needs.
• Notice small changes in mood, health, or wellbeing.

When a person and their carers feel heard, they are more likely to share their concerns and preferences. This creates a shared understanding and helps staff adapt support to meet changing needs.

The Role of Carers

Carers may spend more time with the individual than paid staff. They often notice subtle changes or know routines and preferences that are not written in care plans.

Working closely with carers can help:

• Identify ways to communicate, especially if the person does not use words.
• Learn about routines that comfort or reassure the person.
• Spot early signs of illness, distress, or unhappiness.
• Find activities the person enjoys.

Carers often provide emotional support, encouragement, and advocacy for the person. Ignoring their input risks missing vital information. Good relationships make it easier to share information honestly and openly.

Achieving Positive Outcomes

Positive outcomes mean the person feels safe, heard, and supported to live the life they choose. Outcomes can include:

• Improved wellbeing and quality of life.
• Having more choice and control.
• Reaching personal goals, such as learning new skills or becoming more independent.
• Feeling involved in their community.

When staff build trusting, respectful relationships with individuals and carers, they can:

• Create care plans that make sense for the person.
• Respond quickly when things change.
• Work together to solve problems.
• Spot and celebrate achievements.

This benefits not just the individual, but their family and social network. Families often feel more confident and less isolated when they see staff working in person-centred ways.

The Impact of Poor Relationships

When relationships are poor, the opposite can happen:

• The person may feel ignored or unheard.
• Their real wishes may not be discovered.
• Carers can feel dismissed, leading to frustration and higher stress.
• Support might not meet actual needs.
• Early signs of deterioration can be missed.

This can lead to poorer outcomes—like loneliness, poor health, or lack of progress towards goals. It can also increase complaints and harm relationships between staff, service users, and carers.

Factors that Strengthen Relationships

Building strong relationships takes time, effort, and the right approach. Things that make a difference include:

• Listening without judgement.
• Showing genuine interest in the person’s story.
• Using clear and honest communication.
• Following through on promises and actions.
• Being open to feedback from carers and family.

Being respectful of culture, beliefs, and personal history helps build trust. Staff who show empathy and patience, especially at times of stress, create safer and more trusting relationships.

The Importance of Involving Carers

Involving carers supports good outcomes across many areas. Carers:

• Help create more accurate care plans.
• Improve understanding of the person’s likes, dislikes, and routines.
• Offer creative solutions to practical challenges.
• Provide insight on how the person is coping with change or illness.

Carers may also need support themselves. Recognising their needs and offering advice or guidance shows respect for their role. Staff who work well with carers help boost everyone’s wellbeing.

Communication

Good relationships depend on clear, open communication. This means:

• Using language the person can understand.
• Giving information in ways that make sense (photos, symbols, plain English).
• Checking understanding rather than assuming it.
• Listening and responding to both the individual and their carers.

Openness goes both ways. Managers must encourage staff to be honest about what can or cannot be provided, and carers to explain what is working or not working.

Shared Goals and Planning

Person-centred support works best when everyone understands the goals and how they will be reached. This needs:

• Joint meetings with the person, carers, and professionals.
• Flexibility in how plans are made and reviewed.
• Regular feedback about progress or problems.

When plans are co-produced with the person and carers, they are more likely to succeed. Everyone feels included and invested in achieving the outcomes.

Advocacy and Empowerment

People sometimes need support to make their voices heard, especially where communication is difficult or decision-making capacity changes. Staff can strengthen relationships by:

• Advocating for the person’s wishes.
• Using independent advocates where needed.
• Avoiding assumptions or deciding for the person.
• Encouraging the person to try new things, take managed risks, and become more independent.

Empowerment means giving the person more control in their life. It requires strong relationships to understand where support or guidance is needed.

Building Trust

Trust shapes every part of the relationship. Trust is built when staff:

• Respect the individual’s privacy and dignity.
• Keep information confidential.
• Apologise when mistakes are made and put things right.
• Welcome carers into discussions and meetings.

Trust means the person, their family, and carers feel safe to share worries or disappointments as well as positives.

Collaboration with Families

Families are often the constant people in the individual’s life. Staff may come and go, but families keep the big picture. Working with families means:

• Valuing their long-term knowledge.
• Sharing information that helps everyone make decisions.
• Recognising that families have lives and needs too.

Good relationships mean putting aside staff pride or preferences and listening carefully to the individual and those closest to them.

Supporting Difficult Conversations

Sometimes, conversations are hard. The person or their carers may disagree with proposals, be upset by changes, or want more than can be delivered.

Strong relationships make these conversations easier. Staff can:

• Show respect, even in disagreement.
• Stay calm and clear.
• Focus the conversation on what matters most.
• Find compromise and be creative.

Where relationships are honest and respectful, it is easier to find solutions.

The Role of Leadership and Management

Managers support staff to build these relationships by:

• Providing training in person-centred approaches.
• Encouraging reflection on their practice.
• Creating a culture where all voices are heard and valued.
• Being available to support during disputes or worries.
• Celebrating staff who build positive connections.

Leaders set the tone and expectation for the whole team. When they value strong relationships, person-centred care becomes the norm.

Supporting Positive Risk-Taking

People have the right to make choices, even if those choices involve some risk. Staff must work with individuals and carers to weigh up risks and benefits, rather than making decisions based on fear.

Strong relationships allow:

• Honest discussions about risks.
• Clear understanding of the person’s wishes.
• Shared responsibility for decision-making.

This gives people the freedom to live their life in a way that makes sense to them.

Monitoring and Reviewing Outcomes

Person-centred plans are not fixed. Regular reviews involving the individual and carers check whether outcomes are being met.

Managers can:

• Invite feedback in person or in writing.
• Listen when something is not working.
• Make changes quickly to address problems.

Feedback loops keep care meaningful and effective.

Final Thoughts

Relationships with individuals and carers are the heart of person-centred practice. They shape how well staff can understand, plan, and deliver support that matches the person’s needs, values, and ambitions. Strong, honest, and respectful relationships help everyone work together to achieve the best possible outcomes for both individuals and their families.