What is a Positive Behaviour Support Plan?

What is a Positive Behaviour Support Plan?

Positive Behaviour Support (PBS) aims to reduce or eliminate challenging behaviours by understanding their underlying causes.

A positive behaviour support plan is an integral part of positive behaviour support therapy. It offers practical strategies to prevent and manage challenging behaviours. The plan helps reduce or eliminate restrictive practices while building essential skills for positive change.

Read this comprehensive guide to understand:

• Why a positive behaviour support plan is Important
• How a positive behaviour support plan is developed
• What is included in a PBS Plan
• How to organise a positive behaviour support plan

Why is a Positive Behaviour Support Plan Important?

A Positive Behaviour Support (PBS) Plan ensures that everyone in the NDIS participant’s support network understands their specific needs, behaviour triggers, and consistent strategies to improve their quality of life and participation and reduce or remove challenging behaviour.

As part of positive behaviour support, a qualified behaviour support practitioner writes the positive behaviour support plan in consultation with the participant and their support network.

Key Benefits of a PBS Plan

A positive behaviour support plan:

• promotes safety through predictable strategies
• protects dignity and supports skill-building
• reduces restrictive practices, improving the participant’s quality of life.

If restrictive practices are being used, an interim behaviour support plan will be provided within 30 days of the assessment. The plan can be shared, reviewed, and updated regularly with the individual’s support network. The interim plan clearly sets the preventative or environmental changes needed and ensures consistency and predictability of support.

Restrictive practices limit a person’s movement or rights to protect them or others. These may include:

• chemical restraint
• environmental restraint
• mechanical restraint
• physical restraint
• seclusion.

A PBS plan aims to reduce or use restrictive practices only as a last resort.

How is an NDIS Positive Behaviour Support Plan Developed?

There are two types of positive behaviour support plans:

1. Interim Plan: Developed within 30 days of an assessment. It provides immediate strategies for managing challenging behaviours and is required when restrictive practices are used.
2. Comprehensive Plan: Developed over 6-12 months, involving detailed assessments and tailored strategies for long-term skill-building.

Steps to Developing a PBS Plan

Creating a PBS plan involves four steps:

Step 1: Initial Consultation

A behaviour support practitioner works closely with the NDIS participant, family, and broader supports to identify:

• The participant’s needs
  Are there physical, social, or emotional needs or health issues impacting them? Has a communication assessment been completed?
• What triggers the behaviours of concern?
  What is the function of these behaviours to the person, and do they change based on the environment?
• Which targeted positive behaviour supports are needed?
  Such as increasing communication skills, using replacement behaviours, reinforcement or building on other skills.
• What de-escalation strategies are needed?
  Beginning with the least restrictive options first, which consistent strategies can be used consistently across different environments and settings.

An interim plan may be created at this point.

Step 2: Positive Behaviour Plan Development

A functional behaviour assessment is completed; this identifies the ‘function’ or purpose of the challenging behaviour to the focus person, which could be to:

• escape or avoid
• obtain objects or engage in desired activities
• satisfy a physical or sensory need
• seek social interaction.

Strategies to prevent and de-escalate challenging and aggressive behaviours will be evaluated and behaviour support practitioners will determine any areas of development required.

Step 3: Implementation and Consistent Review

The plan is created and shared with the broader support team and essential services such as employment, mental health services, and family support.

The plan must be monitored and reviewed regularly as per the pre-determined schedule. If restrictive practices increase, the plan must be altered, and program or material changes must be recorded.

Step 4: Outcome and Further Recommendations Report

The behaviour support practitioner will create an outcome report, detailing what has been achieved with the NDIS funding. The report will outline any barriers to achieving outcomes and what’s needed in their next NDIS plan to reach desired outcomes.

What is Included in a Positive Behaviour Support Plan?

A PBS plan will include:

• Personal details: names, contact information, and service providers
• Routine and Preferences: The participant’s strengths, goals, and daily routine.
• Behaviour Details: Information about specific behaviours of concern including the frequency, severity, duration, and triggers of behaviours.
• Support Strategies: Communication skills, de-escalation processes, and goals.
• Monitoring and Review Schedule: Who oversees the PBS plan and how often it’s reviewed

Restrictive Practices in PBS Plans

• If a restrictive practice is included in the plan, the plan must outline^[1]:
• Positive strategies to try before using restrictive practices
• Justification and conditions for restrictive practices
• Monitoring and de-escalation procedures.

Who Can Write a Positive Behaviour Support Plan?

A positive behaviour support plan must be written by a qualified behaviour support practitioner as defined by the Positive Behaviour Capability Framework. The plan is developed in consultation with:

• the NDIS participant
• family, carers or guardians
• support workers
• other supporting people in the individual’s network such as doctors, teachers, speech pathologists, occupational therapists etc.

How Do You Organise a Positive Behaviour Support Plan?

At Everyday Independence, our behaviour support practitioners use a person-centred approach to creating your plan. We get to know you, your family, and your support network to promote the development of new skills, improved relationships, and a supportive environment for implementing your plan.

Positive behaviour support at Everyday Independence is available with Improved Relationships Funding. If you’re experiencing challenges with behaviours but don’t have behaviour support funding in your NDIS plan, our dedicated behaviour support practitioners can still help.

Using Improved Daily Living funding, individuals with moderate behavioural challenges can access one of our four behaviour support programs that focus on reducing challenging behaviours by creating supportive environments and building healthy habits.

To get started on a positive behaviour support plan, simply complete this online form, and our team will contact you to discuss your needs in detail.

References

[1] NDIS, 2024. Understanding Behavioural Support and Restrictive Practices. https://www.ndiscommission.gov.au/participants/incidents-and-behaviour-support/understanding-behaviour-support-and-restrictive practices