Pathways to Empowerment - Judith Wolf

1.4 Improving the quality of daily life

including aids (medication, meals on wheels, etc.) and support structures (social support, buddy, etc.). The aim is to use these to redress the balance between burden and capacity, such that those close to themcontinue to feel well and do not become overburdened. Inspired by the concepts of self-regulation and positive health, Pathways to Empowerment defines recovery as follows:

People’s ability to regulate themselves and their lives and to take control in the face of life’s emotional, physical, social and material challenges.

This description shows clearly that people are themselves the most important drivers of changes focused on recovery (Van der Stel, 2013). In essence it is about personal recovery. See also Chapter 2 for information on the concept of recovery and its various forms. 1.4.2 Building the conditions of your existence By helping to strengthen clients’ participation and personal control, focusing on their functioning and on their personal recovery, the strength-based approach can give a major impetus to the quality of their daily lives. This is done by working with clients on improving four conditions of participation and personal control at individual level (Wolf, 2012a): 1 self-regulation 2 sense of belonging with others, i.e. social embedding 3 conditions of existence 4 access to rights, resources and institutions, i.e. having a place in society as a whole. Pathways to Empowerment’s broader focus on participation and personal control gives people a chance to increase their autonomy, once again make an active contribution to society and be of significance to others. Therefore, Pathways to Empowerment also has significance from the perspective of society, as clients regain the ability to do something for – or give something back to – society. This reciprocity benefits their well-being and self-realisation.

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