Measuring client participation in individual programme planning meetings

Summary Clients should participate in their individual programme planning (IPP) meetings, but the question is: Do they? It would help staff in supporting their clients if a simple method were available for measuring client participation. The present article describes the development of such a method and its use with one client in a routine IPP meeting. An IPP participation checklist (IPPPC) was developed to assess the participation of one client, Mr B, who has limited verbal communication skills, at his IPP meeting. A questionnaire for staff was also devised to gauge their perceptions of Mr B's participation at the same meeting. Mr B actively participated in much of the meeting; the IPPPC highlighted areas in which he did not participate. Staff members' ratings of his participation were in close agreement. Client attendance at a meeting does not guarantee active participation. The IPPPC shows how far the client has participated in specific aspects of a meeting. It may be possible to increase client participation by the introduction of keyworker meetings, management support and IPP guidelines. The regular use of the IPPPC described in the present paper will guide staff in what to look for when assessing participation and may be especially valuable during staff training.