Are You Really Tailoring Support, or Just Offering Options?
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Blog 7 of 7: This article is part of our 7-part series on tailoring support in person-centred care. Scroll down to explore links to the full series.
“We offer a range of options” — it sounds person-centred. But is it really? Giving people a menu of choices is useful, but if the options themselves aren’t shaped by what matters to that person, you’re not tailoring support. You’re just offering it.
Commissioners and inspectors want to see that people are involved in creating support, not just choosing from it. That’s the core difference between offering choice and delivering personalised planning. This is especially important in learning disability tenders and domiciliary care bids, where evidence of co-production and lived experience is often scored highly.
🤝 Tailoring means co-creation
True personalisation starts before the support begins. It means asking the right questions, listening actively, and then designing support around that conversation.
Examples of co-created support include:
- Designing a morning routine around someone’s energy levels, not staff rotas
- Shaping support around a person’s cultural or sensory preferences
- Using meaningful activities to reach goals — not just what’s available locally
When inspectors or commissioners read a support plan, they should feel like they’re getting to know the person — not the service. This is a key differentiator in home care tenders, where generic wording is common but rarely scores well.
📑 What to show in tenders and QA evidence
- How people contribute to shaping their own routines, activities and outcomes
- Ways you adapt support based on feedback or changing needs
- Stories of how personalised planning improved someone's confidence or wellbeing
When you describe this well in bids, it signals a responsive, person-led culture — not just a compliant one. Many providers work with our proofreading and bid review service to ensure their evidence reads as collaborative and authentic.
📚 Explore the full 7-part series on tailoring support in person-centred care:
- 🗣️ 1 – Tailoring Support: What It Means and Why It Matters
- 💪 2 – How to Tailor Support to People’s Strengths (Not Just Their Needs)
- 📄 3 – One Page Profiles: More Than Just a Tool
- 🌅 4 – “What Would a Good Day Look Like?” — The Most Important Question
- 🎛️ 5 – Embedding Choice and Control in Everyday Support
- ✂️ 6 – Why Person-Centred Support Plans Should Never Be Cut-and-Paste
- 🤔 7 – Are You Really Tailoring Support — or Just Offering Options?