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ALPIMS Foundation Tools

Support

Think about what help is useful, how much support is needed and how to support participation and independence.

Help • participation • independence

What support would help? ↓ Explore Support

Good support should make life more workable.

Useful

Support should solve a real problem rather than simply add more activity.

Right-sized

Too little support may leave someone overwhelmed; too much may reduce participation.

Collaborative

The person receiving support should be involved in how help is provided where possible.

Flexible

Support may need to change as symptoms, capacity and circumstances change.

What is difficult about support right now?

Choose the closest option. You do not need to know the perfect solution.

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Support Tools

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Practical Help

Support with tasks that are difficult, exhausting or using too much capacity.

Tasks • help • reduce load

Supported Participation

Help someone stay involved without expecting them to manage every part alone.

Participate • adapt • share load

Person independently using a laptop at a desk

Support Without Taking Over

Balance help with choice, control, skill and independence.

Choice • autonomy • independence

Support in Families

Make support clearer, fairer and easier to discuss when needs affect the whole family.

Family • shared capacity • roles

Healthcare professional talking with a patient

Professional Support

Think about what kind of professional input may help and how to make it easier to use.

Professional • care • collaborate

Ask for What You Need

Make requests clearer and reduce the effort of explaining support needs repeatedly.

Ask • explain • clarify

Quiet landscape representing changing capacity

Support When Capacity Changes

Adjust help when someone can do something one day but not another.

Capacity • flexibility • pacing

Review What Is Working

Check whether support is reducing load, increasing participation and still fitting current needs.

Review • adjust • keep what helps

Support works best when it answers a specific need.

Start with the problem before deciding who should help or how.

What is hard?

Name the activity, decision, sensory demand or responsibility that is causing difficulty.

What part needs help?

The whole task may not need to be taken over. Sometimes one difficult step is enough.

What should stay with the person?

Preserve choice, preferences, skills and participation wherever that is workable.

Common Questions About Support

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Enough to make the activity workable without automatically removing every part of it. The right amount may change with symptoms, fatigue, skills, safety and the importance of the activity to the person.

Variable capacity is still variable capacity. Support can be flexible rather than all-or-nothing. The question is what is manageable today and what the cost of doing it will be afterward.

Not necessarily. Well-matched support may increase independence by making it possible to participate in more activities, make more choices or conserve capacity for important tasks.

Try to separate safety issues from preferences. Clarify what the person wants help with, what the helper is realistically able to provide and where each person needs more choice or clearer boundaries.

Review it when circumstances change, support starts creating extra work, the person becomes more or less able to participate, or the original problem is no longer being solved.

Related ALPIMS tools

Support is often easier when the wider problem is clearer.

These Foundation Tools may help with the surrounding situation.

Load & Capacity

Understand why support needs may change from day to day.

Explore →

Communication

Make needs, boundaries and requests easier to explain.

Explore →

For Families

Look at support, shared capacity and roles across the family.

Explore →

Good support should reduce load without erasing the person.

The aim is to make participation more possible while preserving choice, dignity and as much independence as is workable.

Choose a starting point ↑ ALPIMS Resources →

Important: ALPIMS provides general educational and practical information. Support needs vary between people and may involve safety, health, disability, family, financial or service-system considerations. Seek appropriate professional advice where individual assessment is needed.