This month’s Practice Framework focus is Active Support, supporting clients to participate, build skills and grow confidence through everyday experiences.
Active Support means doing things with clients, not for them.
It is about breaking tasks into steps. Creating real choice. Encouraging participation. Building confidence in ways that feel meaningful to the person.
Recently, the Seabreeze team brought Active Support to life in a simple but powerful way.
Elizabeth has always loved gardening. She grew up planting roses with her mum. Those memories stayed with her, even when the garden bed at home sat empty for some time.
Instead of stepping in and fixing it, the team started with a conversation.
What would Elizabeth like to plant?
What did gardening mean to her?
How could they bring the space back to life together?
Rachel Taylor worked closely alongside Elizabeth, but it was a shared effort across the Seabreeze team. Everyone played a part in encouraging, supporting and creating the space for Elizabeth to lead.
They planned it side by side.
Elizabeth chose her plants. She visited Bunnings. She asked questions. She made decisions. The team supported each step, ensuring she was actively involved from start to finish.
Back home, they worked together in the garden. Planting. Watering. Learning. Adjusting. Building.
The outcome was not just a refreshed garden bed.
It was pride.
It was ownership.
It was confidence.
Rachel later reflected on the experience in a short poem. But the real story is not the poem. It is the practice and the teamwork behind it.
Active Support is not complicated. It lives in everyday actions:
- sitting down to plan together
- offering genuine choice
- supporting step by step
- allowing time for learning
- celebrating progress.
Elizabeth’s garden is now growing. More importantly, so is her confidence.
As we focus on Active Support this month, take a moment to reflect:
Where can you step back so a client can step forward?
Where can your team create space for greater independence?
This is how we deliver on our mission, creating choice, opportunities and skills for life.
To learn more about Sunnyfield and the values that guide our work, visit our homepage:
https://www.sunnyfield.org.au
Together, we help clients grow. One step at a time. 🌱
