PBS Facilitator / PBS Coach

Positive Behaviour Support (PBS) is a series of person-centred methods and strategies to help support people with their behaviour, originally designed with individuals with a learning disability in mind, it can also be used in other settings (mental health, children’s and young people etc.)

PBS includes proven techniques that prevents behaviour which impacts quality of life for the individual (previously referred to as challenging behaviour), helps the individual develop positive behaviour skills, and makes their life safer and more comfortable. 

What does a PBS Facilitator / PBS Coach do? 

A PBS Facilitator works alongside caregivers, teachers, support workers, and healthcare professionals to develop tailored PBS methods that help them provide the best possible care. They provide detailed training as well as guidance and support while PBS methods are introduced.

As the PBS Facilitator is not a caregiver, they will help the people who know the individual best, teaching them how to integrate new methods they think will benefit them. PBS is not just about encouraging good behaviour, but also helps individuals to develop new skills and learn new methods of communication.

Their main role is to observe the individual from a distance and assess how they could benefit from PBS methods. If the individual has been receiving care for a long time, making changes to their routine can be tricky, the PBS Facilitator helps them test and develop new strategies for the individual and see what they respond to best. 

Why is PBS Facilitator Important? 

PBS is in-depth and can take a long time to integrate without the appropriate expertise. 

The core requirement for effective PBS is understanding the individual’s needs and preferences. Everyone is different, and there are hundreds of different learning difficulties and disabilities that benefit from PBS methods. All individuals respond differently to these strategies, so understanding them as well as possible is essential before any changes are made to their environment or lifestyle. PBS is also effective for both children and adults but needs to be adapted to suit them. 

PBS Facilitator Workshops

These workshops are the first thing the PBS Facilitator provides to the team of caregivers to explain the effectiveness of PBS. They are hands-on courses with plenty of case studies and real-life examples of PBS in action to give the best account of what the methods do. 

A PBS Facilitator will have had experience with care themselves, so can call on their own experience to better explain the methodology behind PBS. 

The most important workshop revolves around behaviour, focusing on prevention and the correct responses when it happens. This behaviour can be a potential danger to the individual and their caregivers, they need to be appropriate proactive and reactive strategies to avoid this. 

If PBS is successful, behaviour which impacts on quality of life will be a much rarer occurrence. This means that if and when it does occur, responding effectively is more important. The main goal is to calm the situation, removing triggers and distracting the individual in a relaxed, caring way that they will respond positively too. If these methods are ineffective, the PBS Facilitator will explain and demonstrate what stronger action is required and how to conduct it safely. 

Guardian Angels provide a range of developing PBS Facilitator / PBS Coach courses

Typical courses range from 2 to 5 days depending upon local needs and requirements.

Example learning outcomes would include:

• Apply knowledge of PBS and confidently communicate essential information to those they lead or manage
• Use and analyse a range of assessment tools and checklists
• Describe interventions which increase quality of life through the development of capable environments
• Demonstrate and lead interventions that increase the capability of their service to meet the needs of those people supported
• Develop and write clear PBS plans for staff teams to follow and evaluate the quality of PBS plans
• Explain the role of functional behaviour assessment and to ensure that they and their teams can present appropriate information for this assessment
• Create a clear action plan for developing and embedding PBS in their service
• Define the practice leadership role and demonstrate competence in the use of specific coaching skills
• Discuss the impact of stress on staff wellbeing and be able to identify signs of stress and burnout in their teams