Key Messages

Control

The intent of the Enabling Good Lives approach is to make changes so that disabled people and their families have control of their lives.  This includes having the “say so” in how resources are used.

Diversity

A diverse group of people is included in the term “disabled people”.  Disabled persons and their families require different supports, services and approaches in order to achieve equity.

Value of Family/Whānau

The Enabling Good Lives approach respects the central importance of family/whānau.

Different Communities

Enabling Good Lives recognises people live in varied communities.  With the Enabling Good Lives approach, some things will be the same around the country (i.e. principles, general outcomes and monitoring processes) but some communities may need to do things differently to suit their specific circumstances and preferences.

Increased Choice

An objective of Enabling Good Lives is to increase choice and not eliminate existing options.

Change

Enabling Good Lives is both about a whole new way of doing things (i.e. systems change) and about supports and services doing things in different ways (i.e. service transformation).

A New “System”

The Enabling Good Lives approach is based on the belief that for disabled people and family/whānau to experience real choice and control, complete system change is required i.e. Enabling Good Lives is not an “add on” to the existing system.

A Unified Approach

Enabling Good Lives stresses the critical importance of change being across Ministries,  ‘joined up’, strategic and consistent with the expectation and aspiration expressed by disabled people and family/whānau.

Joint Governance

Disabled people, their organisations and family/whānau national networks must have key roles in both National and Regional Governance of the system’s transformation and the new approaches that are created.

Personal Budget

When “system” transformation is completed all individuals and family/whānau will have a Personal budget – people can choose to use this in multiple ways. All funding sources will contribute to the same pool of resource.

New Roles

Many of the functions currently performed by Needs Assessment and Service Co-ordination organisations (NASCs) need to be replaced by two separate functions in distinct organisations i.e. a simple assessment to determine and confirm funding levels and Independent Facilitation (navigation).

Move to a Facilitation Based Approach

All supports and services will move towards an approach that makes it easier for disabled people and  their families to create good lives for themselves in the community i.e. towards ‘facilitation’ and away from ‘provision’.

Community

A primary focus for services is to assist disabled people and families to access and contribute to community based (generic) options, supports and services.

Building a Better Way

All Enabling Good Lives initiatives are developed with the reasonable expectation they can improve supports and services according to the perspective of disabled persons and their families i.e. do no harm.