Active Support and “meaningful activity.” What is the meaning of “meaningful”?

Abstract

Active Support is an approach that aims to engage people in meaningful activities. It is one of the best evidenced models of support for adults with learning disabilities (Mansell and Beadle-Brown, 2012). Adults using challenging behaviour are more likely to be excluded from activities and the community, and when living in in-patient settings, more likely to live in impoverished environments, with a lack of occupation and meaningful activity and be avoided by staff (Department of Health, 2007; Mansell, 1995). Active Support is integral to Positive Behavioural Support (PBS) and the PBS competency framework (PBS Coalition UK, 2015) recommends building appropriate levels of participation in meaningful activity.