Better Aged Care Professionals Ask Better Questions. Lindsay Jr. Tighe

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СКАЧАТЬ the corporate world to further develop my skills and passion for asking those Better Questions. Since then I have not only become more practiced in the skill itself, but I have also developed an absolute passion for training others in the skill, given that I know how much of a profound difference it makes in the world.

      About one month after I published my first book, I received a phone call from a lady who was a client who worked in aged care and disability services. She advised me that in the aged care sector there was a new approach to working with clients being advocated called the Active Service Model. The main philosophy of the model, she advised me at a subsequent meeting, was to work with clients rather than to do for clients, to help support them in the achievement of identified goals, and to involve and empower them to make choices about what they wanted rather than make assumptions or take over the decision-making for them. Overall it was about empowering and supporting elderly clients to remain living more independently in their communities, if that is what they chose to do.

      I was very excited to learn about this philosophy, in absolute certainty that the skill of asking Better Questions would facilitate its implementation in practice, as well as create clients who were more engaged, empowered and ultimately fulfilled in their lives. So we developed a pilot training program, which was rolled out initially to about thirty staff, on the basis that we would review the results achieved to ascertain if the training was effective and staff felt that they now had more skills to enable them to carry out the new approach in practice.

      I have to say that I have been completely overwhelmed by what has happened following this pilot training program, not only with the success that has been achieved by Aged Care Professionals using the skill of asking Better Questions, but also by how quickly word spread about the program and the results that were being achieved. I have had to train other people to deliver the training program to meet the demand, and between us we have now trained thousands of managers, nurses, aged care staff, community health professionals and case managers in the skill of asking Better Questions across Australia.

      I have to say that I have been humbled by the preparedness of the staff that work in this sector to take on board the training and change their current practice, which had often been in use for many years. Indeed, I have been in tears when I have received written or verbal updates from staff who have used the skill in practice with quite profound results. There is nothing more rewarding than knowing that the ideas I have shared around the skill of asking Better Questions have been embraced and utilised in practice, which ultimately has then benefited the wonderful clients in the sector and enabled them to shine.

      I cannot promise that the approach I share will be the ‘magic wand’ and be an approach that will work in all situations. There is an assumption made that using the skill of asking Better Questions will work best with clients who have the cognitive ability to respond to questions, and with those who have the capability of making decisions and taking responsibility. That doesn’t mean that you cannot use the skill with clients with some cognitive impairment, but I must stress that the results achieved and the impact you have will likely be less significant due to these presenting issues.

      Thank you for choosing to read this book. I trust that by learning the skill of asking Better Questions you will be inspired to support and enable your clients by taking a more person-centred and empowered approach with them, which inevitably will lead to better outcomes for all. Through asking Better Questions there is a greater sense of truly making a difference in the world, which then supports the reasons you are probably working in this sector in the first place!

      As a final thought for my introduction, I trust that you will recognise that whilst this book is written in the context of your role as an Aged Care Professional, by the time you have read it you will realise that being a Better Questioner in any aspect of your life, friendships, partnerships, parenting and work, will be a great thing to do. Indeed, everyone we interact with is far more amazing than they realise, and having the skill to release their amazingness is a beautiful life skill to bring to all contexts of your life!

      What people say about our workshops

      The inspirational and profound messages contained in this book have been delivered to thousands of people in our workshops. Here are some comments from people who have attended them:

      •I have taken so much from your training that has been very valuable in recent weeks.

      •I personally got a lot out of it and have had some great success with the strategies, not only on an everyday basis at work but also at a family level with our 16-year-old son!

      •I have seen change with one of the staff that I manage, in that instead of asking how she should resolve a problem, she indicates now what she suggests would resolve it.

      •You have inspired me to look very closely at the questions I ask people, not only in my workplace but also at home. It has been a wonderful experience and I can see how someone can become more empowered and also gain confidence to become a better listener.

      •Thank you very much for making me understand that Better Questions are definitely the right answers, and I’m going to try hard to enhance these skills in everyday use.

      •I have a tendency to jump in and recommend without listening to a staff member’s opinion. The Better Questions approach is the only way that staff can learn and develop in their practice.

      •Thank you for sharing this amazing tool and for inspiring me to look at all people in a way they deserve to be treated.

      •If I hadn’t listened and used Better Questions well, I would have just accepted it when one of our staff members resigned and we as an organisation would have lost a dynamic, highly skilled person, not to mention all the wasted time, effort and expense of orientating someone to the organisation.

      •You have changed my life and I thank you.

      •I was totally blown away by your insights.

      •Just wanting to let you know that I have been inspired by many people in my life, but you are up there with the best. I have a long way to go to get the questions right but am now aware of what I am doing wrong so will continue to work on getting it right. Thank you so very much and keep up the fantastic work. Everyone needs to hear you speak.

      •Thank you for the opportunity to become more aware of myself, and of things I can do to enjoy my work and life more!

      •I have heard such a positive buzz around the office in response to your Better Questions training, which is just wonderful!

      Prologue

      Once upon a time there was a humble and boring question mark. He had been described as ‘boring’ because his role in life was to simply sit at the end of a sentence. Indeed, the role of the question mark was simply to make a sentence into a question. BIG DEAL!

      What this little question mark found sad was that in the past great scholars had recognised the amazing qualities of his ancestor question marks, and people like Socrates and Plato had hailed them as heroes. But here he is today, living his life in the 21st century, unrecognised and unappreciated, and he feels sad that so few people appreciate his potential.

      One day, a lady came along who saw his potential, and she used his abilities for many years with her clients with life-changing results. He became great friends with this lady, and she started to get so excited about his potential to make the world a better place that she asked his permission to write a book and a website about him.

      This lady was aware that if more people knew about him, they would be able to tap into СКАЧАТЬ