This is something you've definitely come across if you deal with challenging behaviour within your role, irrelevant of it being adult service users or children.
The principles are the same, although each company can have their own aesthetic documentation of these, but the fundamentals should follow the same academic principles.
In a nutshell, PBS Plans are psychological approach to support those who display challenging behaviours, they are intended to be proactive and reactive and can change as and when new behaviours are identified.
The company you work for should have PBS plans in place for service users/ students, Please read through them thoroughly, You can also prompt management if they're outdated and need updating. If they do need updating and the service user has the capacity to retain information given/read , then they should also be shown the new plan, and sign to agree with the observations and supportive solutions documented.
They're typically broken down into three segments:- Calm, Early Warning Signs and Crisis. These are usually colour coded too, and many services follow a traffic light system of Green, Amber and Red.
Each section will have previously identified triggers, behaviours and tools/methods to bring them back to calm, this is called Recovery and Blue is often used. (The Supportive Recovery Bridge- We coined that)
These plans are person centred, so it's not a one size fits all methodology, and sometimes the methods can vary from day to day and person to person, These plans are not there to be black and white, they are just to give you insight and little tips on what to do when certain behaviours are displayed.
Example of Trigger Vs Supportive Solution
Trigger: Service user has gone to the bank and there money hasn't gone in, They start showing signs of stress and anxiety, by displaying behaviours such as shouting, pacing, mumbling etc.
In there PBS plan, Financial worries maybe noted as a trigger and can put them into an Amber zone.
It's down to you as the support worker to utilise their PBS plan to stop them going into red. (You won't always succeed, and don't take it personally if you don't)
Solution: There should be some solutions already tried and in their support plan, such as "Offer them support with calling their bank, appointees, DWP etc to find out what's going on"
Sometimes , offering them food can help by simply distracting them, plus calories believe it or not, can help regulate emotions by keeping blood sugars in check.
PRN medication may also be in their support plan, such as Promethazine.
Personally, I'd say to have medication as a last resort, unless they request it straight away. Always check the MAR chart first.
The above situation would need documenting on their files, via interaction log on a system such as nourish or whatever your company uses.
This would need logging as PBS interaction, or however they've been titled and fill in the form, be as detailed as possible. When it comes to PBS plans, there's no such thing as "too much information".
It's pointless for us to try a give an overview of what you will need to document exactly, because all companies are different. If you're struggling, reach out to your line manager, it's what they're there for (And get paid for) You can always look back on previous logs for inspiration.
If you want more in depth information about PBS Support Plans, Here are some great resources via the Challenging Behaviour Foundation
In time, we will be creating our own in house documents, but we have to give credit where it's due and we will always refer on to those professional organisations that focus on a specific topic that we're blogging out.
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