Req 3d - Dignity of Risk

Will Holmes à Court
Will Holmes à Court
Last updated 
Each HWH client is supported to take risks to enable them to live the best life they can.

Context
  • All adults have an equal right to decide about things that affect their lives and continue to make those decisions as they age. 
  • Making decisions in everyday life involves risks. 
  • This requirement is about how HWH respects a client’s wishes and preferences regarding the risks they choose to take.
  • Dignity of risk supports a client’s independence and self-determination to make their own choices, including taking some life risks. 
  • If client choices are potentially harmful to them, we are expected to help the client understand the risk and how it could be managed to help them live the way they choose.
  • HWH has other responsibilities under the law to manage risks to the health and safety of our staff and others in the service environment. 
  • In meeting these obligations, HWH is expected to show how we involve clients and look for solutions that are the least restrictive of their choice and independence.
Success Measures
  • HWH plans adopts, and reviews ways to support client choice and decision-making, including when it involves risk.
  • HWH and staff methods or strategies support clients in making choices, including when a choice may include risks to the client.
  • Interactions between clients and our staff indicate how we support clients in making risky choices.
    • These interactions show that we respect the client’s decisions.
  • HWH performs risk reviews after they have been identified.
  • HWH uses risk mitigation to inform future risk management approaches and problem-solving to improve client outcomes.
  • HWH supports our staff in respecting clients' decisions and choices, even when they feel uncomfortable about the risk involved.
Success Indicators
Clients
  • Clients say our staff understand what is important to them and aren’t judgemental about their choices.
  • Clients say they feel heard when they tell our staff what matters to them and what they want.
  • Clients say they are supported to understand benefits and possible harm when they make decisions about taking risks in day-to-day life and over the long term.
  • Clients say they are active partners in decisions that involve risk and problem-solving solutions to reduce risk where possible.
Staff
  • Staff can describe how they use problem-solving solutions to minimise risk and tailor solutions to help clients live their chosen lives.
  • Staff can describe examples of how HWH has supported clients to have choice and control, including when that choice involves risk.
  • Staff can describe how HWH takes reasonable care to avoid risks without limiting the ability of clients to take responsibility for their own decisions and choices.
  • Staff orientation, training or other records show how HWH supported our staff to meet this requirement. 
Organisation
  • Evidence of policies and procedures that support our staff in managing any tension between clients taking risks or refusing care or services and their professional or legal obligations.
  • Examples of problem-solving tools or decision support processes that combine a client’s values, goals and preferences with information about benefits and risks to achieve client-centred solutions.
  • If a client’s choices and preferences are restricted, policies and procedures ensure these restrictions are limited, tailored, and proportionate to the risk.