Monday, November 14, 2011

Institute on Disability Launches Online Person-centered Planning Tool

Planning for and providing support to a loved one who is aging or living with a chronic illness or disability is a common experience for almost everyone at some point in life. The process, however, can be arduous and presents a number of challenges that prevent individuals from living as they choose. The path to navigate the maze of medical and community supports can be complex and time consuming. Individuals and families often struggle to define and create a network of supports, and service providers frequently experience significant time and funding constraints.

With the help of Look Back, Plan Forward, a new website from the UNH Institute on Disability, individuals with disabilities and people who are aging have a place to record and reflect on important life events in a web-based timeline. This online record can prove invaluable for understanding and focusing on the individual’s desires and preferences when it is used by family caregivers and services providers as a framework for planning tailored services and supports.

After creating a profile, site visitors can:
• Enter their personal history into a timeline format.
• Print and share their history with family, friends, health care or home care providers, and others who can support them in the way they prefer.
• Save their history so they can update it over time.
All personal information is password-protected, and sharing of personal information is at the sole discretion of the site user.

For more information about person-centered planning and how to create an online timeline, visit the website.

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