The Five Tests
For me, it’s all about The Five Tests. They are not a checklist or a process, simply a lens through which to view any support we consider for a person or their family.
This is the easy one. Whether you are a commissioner in a local council, run an organisation that offers support to people, are a Mum, Dad, sister or brother, someone who draws on support or who supports someone directly, this is the key question. Is what I am buying, providing or being offered something I would want for myself or someone I love? If there is even a glimmer of, ‘hmmmm maybe not’ then stop and think again.
People working in health, social care and education have a strange desire to create and use a language of a parallel universe. Some is just plain silly... 'activities of daily living'? 'Accessing the community?' 'Mobilising?' Some is downright dehumanising... People described as 'complex cases', someone being offered a 'placement', or being described as 'non-compliant’. Using this language means people are viewed, and treated, as 'other' than us or less than human. And history teaches us how dangerous this distance and division can be. Think about the words you use to describe people, where people live, the way people communicate, and the things people do. If those words aren't words you'd use with family and friends, they are probably words that get in the way of people living Gloriously Ordinary Lives.
Gloriously Ordinary Language
Rehumanise. Reconnect. Reimagine.
Gloriously Ordinary Language is an exciting new eight-month programme for local councils and other social care organisations who want to rehumanise their language, reconnect practice with personal and organisational principles and reimagine care and support.
This might feel a bit more subtle. Have a quick look at the photos on your phone. I bet they are a mixture of moments of joy (big and small), things that have moved you or made you laugh, memories you want to treasure …maybe some food! This test is about taking a mental snapshot of the support someone is drawing on and their experience. What does that mental image tell us? Would you be happy to have it on your phone, or be embarrassed or frankly a bit sad?
The famous Maori proverb asks, ‘What is the most important thing in the world? It is people it is people it is people!’ Test four reminds us of this. The most human paid support to help me get washed and dressed or eat my lunch is nothing if it doesn’t remember that I also need people in my life who are there because they love me.
What gets you out of bed in the morning? Do you have a job to get to? Kids to get up and out, a dog to walk, a group to go to? Maybe you’re a driver at the food bank or volunteer at your local primary school. We might think about these things as our purpose, our being part of something. Doing the things that matter to us and that make us matter.
Unfortunately, purpose isn’t something we really think about in health, social care and education – we’re more interested in fixing problems. In what keeps people alive, not what makes them thrive.
Test five reminds us that even if we have the support we need to get out of bed, we still all need a reason to get up in the morning.
