Positive Behaviour Support.

PBS is characterised, in particular, by the following components:

• Personalisation of both assessment and support arrangements.
• Systematic assessment of the individual’s behaviour to develop an understanding of its function i.e. how it helps the individual to cope better or exert some control over their immediate environment. This process is often referred to as functional assessment or functional analysis.
• Attention to the broader context to ensure that other factors influencing the individual’s behaviour are properly understood.
• Development of both proactive and reactive support arrangements:
  • Prevent the person’s challenging behaviour as much as possible through the provision of a more helpful and less challenging environment;
  • Develop the person’s competencies to ensure that their capacity to influence the world is less restricted.
• Reactive supports provide carers with clear responses to challenging behaviour when it has not been possible to prevent it.
• The integration of proactive and reactive supports in the same PBS plan ensures the coherence and practicality of the overall support arrangements.
• Support for the individual that enables the greatest possible reduction in the occurrence of challenging behaviour in the context of the best possible quality of life.
• Avoidance of support arrangements that punish the person in any way or create unnecessary restrictions on their freedom of movement and choice.

Source: Core Service Specification Toolkit, Commissioning services for people with a learning disability and behaviour which challenges that require support, NHS England, ADASS, April 2013