ABSTRACT
Training staff in specific skills can successfully influence how they behave at work. They need to learn skills which will enable them to become more competent at work, including communicating with people at an appropriate level, observing and responding to clients’ communicative behaviour, and using skills in order to facilitate and encourage appropriate interaction. Values are based on the attitudes and policies that surround a service. They provide the rationale for why and how a service is delivered and are often linked to ideologies of care, such as the five service accomplishments of normalisation. The whole-establishment training model offers a basic framework that can be applied to either short or extended training activities. Training is essential in order to develop staff skills and competencies, and to enable them to support clients in the most effective way. The effective training programme is dependent on several factors: the presentation of learning activities, the management of the learning environment and the behaviour of the trainer.
