Person Centred and Wellness Research

These following leaders’ articles are still used for staff and volunteer learning and continuous improvement of service delivery in working in partnership with people who are older and with a disability:

No one in the 20 Century has had such a profound impact on the language, content, imagery, integrity, cadre training efforts or literature in the field of developmental disabilities as Wolf Wolfensberger.

It can be said that, given this monumental contribution, mediated through hundreds, and thousands, of human service workers whose efforts and perspectives have been shaped by his direct and indirect teaching, the lives of hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of different people, have been transformed. Not a small endowment.

In fact, if there were a Nobel Prize to be given in "Human Services" or "Societal Values", Wolf would be on the very short list for that recognition.

William Bronston MD 2008, In Contemporary Appreciation of a Unique Teacher and Human Being: Wolf Wolfensberger

John, and his wife an partner Connie, have been in the forefront of thinking and creating precedent setting innovations that helped to created full lives for people with disability labels the world over.

In addition to developing many of the planning systems used internationally, training thousands of facilitators and human service workers, they have also been writers with enormous insight and sensitivity. In the table below are some of their books that Inclusion Press has been privileged to publish.

Helen, along with Lorie Erwin, published a paper on the positive approach to risk and the need to embrace person centred thinking.

Michael is currently an independent international consultant in human services and community work with a focus on work in the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom as well as occasionally in other countries, e.g. Nicaragua, Honduras, Ireland, and Belgium.

His interests, involvements and writings have included leadership, service quality, the creation of safeguards for vulnerable persons, social integration, change, innovation, values, advocacy, the role of individual persons and small groups in creating advances, evaluation, alternatives to bureaucracy, personalised approaches to supporting people, and reform in the human service field amongst others.

He has most consistently worked in the disability, mental health and aged care fields for nearly thirty years but has also occasionally worked in areas such as drug abuse, child protection and community education.

In this work he has occupied a variety of roles including being the Assistant Commissioner for Program Development with the Massachusetts Government, the Director for the Institute for Leadership and Community Development and the Director of the Safeguards Project. He is very active as a public speaker and trainer as well as evaluator, consultant, and advisor to advocates, governments, agencies and community groups.

His masters and doctoral works were in social work and sociology. He regularly teaches at various universities both here and abroad as time allows. He also writes quite extensively and his publications are available upon request. He resides in Massachusetts.

Judith has over 30 years’ experience in social advocacy, systems advocacy, leadership development and service development in England and Australia.

She is known across Australia for her work with families of people with developmental disability, for influencing the direction of policy and for her organisational change credentials.

Jane has been involved in the lives of people with disability since the late 1970s in a range of service roles and as an academic. She works with groups and organisations on values based quality, person centred approaches and leadership development.

Jane has a strong reputation in working with service providers who are interested in developing responsive services and supports.

Trudy Van Dam is an academic working in the area of inclusive education and disability studies at the Australian Catholic University.

Trudy has 20 years’ experience in service provision with 10 years as the CEO of a large service provider. She was responsible for implementing sustainable person centred approaches which brought significant change to the lives of people with disability.