Training costs of person-centred planning

Person centred planning (PCP) has been topical, not least because it has been put on the policy agenda (Department of Health, 1999; Department of Health, 2001). It is a way of conceptualising and bringing into reality the aspirations of persons with a learning disability in a manner that may guide service responses. Similar to investing in education, costs are incurred in the short term in the expectation that there will be improvements in personal social and economic function in later life. Putting PCP into practise requires (among other things) running development and training sessions for various individuals on its principles and application. The training is designed to build capacity of self-advocates, families, friends and paid support and front line staff involved in the lives of the focus person in a person centred approach. One of the reasons for investing in training is that PCP is based on a completely different way of seeing and working with people with learning disabilities, focused on community inclusion and support. Such an approach will clearly have an impact on resources in order to implement it. Little is known about these costs.