Empowering Supported Decision Making

April 24, 2020

Utah LEND logo

As part of their year-long leadership project, five long-term trainees from the Utah Regional LEND program (along with their faculty mentors) worked with the University of Utah Neurobehavior HOME Program to create three brochures to help spread the word about the benefits of Supported Decision Making (SDM). The team also sought to help shift the status quo from guardianship as the only option to self-advocacy and SDM as a viable, effective alternative.

Each brochure was created for a specific stakeholder audience.  The Guide for Clinicians provides guidance on how to speak with families, rationale for why SDM is a viable alternative to guardianship, and other information specifically oriented to the clinical role.  The Guide for Families provides family-friendly language around the required scaffolding for implementation of SDM, as well as information specific to the family's role in the SDM team.  Finally, the Guide for Self-Advocates is addresses accessibility and empowerment.