Planning and Support for People With Intellectual Disabilities ─ Issues for Case Managers and Other Professionals

'Thought-provoking, well-written, and offering a range of fresh and sometimes challenging perspectives, Planning and Support should be essential reading for people working in the field of learning disabilities. Highly recommended.'- Involve MagazineThe authors outline the skills needed and common issues in case management practice across a range of people with different disabilities at different stages of their life. Emphasising the importance of taking a rights-based approach to supporting people with learning disabilities, the authors argue that effective case management needs to be individualised and carried out in partnership with the individual and their family in order to draw up a lifestyle plan that meets their many needs, including employment, education, vocational training, therapy and behaviour support.The book includes chapters on inter-agency and cross-sector negotiation and collaboration, balancing rights and protection, listening to individuals and families, communication, optimising health outcomes, approaches to behaviour support, ethical decision-making and reflective supervision, and the text is complemented by case studies throughout.An essential reference for practitioners, the book is also an invaluable guide for policy makers, researchers and students, nurses, carers, and people with intellectual disabilities and their families.

Christine Bigby is Associate Professor and Reader in the School of Social Work and Social Policy at La Trobe University, Victoria, Australia. She is joint editor of Australian Social Work, and an associate editor of the Journal of Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities. Her research has focussed on people ageing with lifelong disabilities, intellectual disability policy and case management. Chris Fyffe, PhD, is Director of her own consultancy firm, providing policy advice and reviews and evaluations of services from the perspective of people with a disability, their families and staff. She has been a Regional Director of Victorian Community Services, Victoria, Course Coordinator of the Postgraduate Diploma in Special Education (Integration) at La Trobe University, and worked and trained as a psychologist. Elizabeth Ozanne is Associate Professor and Head of the School of Social Work at the University of Melbourne, and co-ordinates the Ageing and Disability Research Unit in the School. She is on the Editorial Committee of the Australian Journal of Case Management and a founding member of the Australian Case Management Society. She has participated in several evaluations of aged and disability services with Associate Professor Bigby.