Test Your Knowledge on Supporting Individuals with Disabilities

Duty of Care and the Least Restrictive Approach for Supporting Individuals with Disabilities

• Support workers have a duty of care to protect the safety, wellbeing, and rights of those they support.
• Using a restrictive practice without legal justification is against the law and includes physical restraint, medical restraint, or seclusion.
• People with disabilities have the right to make unwise decisions, but this right is not absolute and may need to be limited to prevent harm.
• The least restrictive approach prioritizes positive, proactive, and person-cantered approaches to address challenging behaviours.
• Person-centred planning involves working closely with individuals to understand their needs, preferences, and goals.
• Offering choices and modifications to activities can reduce the use of restrictive practices.
• Changes to the environment can make a big difference in reducing challenging behaviours.
• Positive reinforcement can be a powerful tool in reducing challenging behaviours.
• Teaching new skills to individuals with disabilities can help them better manage their behaviours and reduce the need for restrictive practices.
• Any use of restrictive practices must be based on individualized assessments and regularly monitored and evaluated.
• Restrictive practices should only be used when there are no less restrictive alternatives available.
• The focus must be on maximizing the individual's freedom and autonomy while minimizing the use of restrictive practices and removing them at the earliest possible opportunity.

Duty of Care and the Least Restrictive Approach

• Support workers have a duty of care to protect the safety, wellbeing, and rights of individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities.
• The use of restrictive practices, such as physical or medical restraints, is only justified if it is necessary to meet the duty of care.
• Restrictive practices include physical restraint, medical restraint, seclusion, and other "less restrictive" practices that limit a person's freedom or decision-making abilities.
• The right to make unwise decisions is a fundamental human right for individuals with disabilities, but it is not absolute and may need to be limited in certain situations.
• The least restrictive approach prioritizes positive, proactive, and person-centered approaches to address challenging behaviors.
• The five characteristics of a least restrictive approach include person-centered planning, providing choices, environmental changes, providing reinforcement, and building new skills.
• Positive reinforcement can be a powerful tool in reducing challenging behaviors.
• Restrictive practices should only be used when there are no less restrictive alternatives available.
• The use of restrictive practices must be based on individualized assessments and regularly monitored and evaluated.
• The focus must be on maximizing the individual's freedom and autonomy while minimizing the use of restrictive practices and removing them at the earliest possible opportunity.
• Support workers and organizations who fail to meet their duty of care obligations may face legal and regulatory sanctions, as well as reputational damage.
• The principle of the least restrictive approach is embedded in many ethical codes and guidelines for the support of people with intellectual and developmental disabilities.