Definition of Positive Risk-Taking
In its specific meaning, positive risk-taking means taking particular risks for already defined positive outcomes. The outcomes have already been clearly identified through a good risk assessment, which enables care teams to develop structured care plans and actions to achieve the specific outcome together with the supported person.
Using various resources to support the person’s desired outcome reduces the risk of harmful consequences and negative outcomes. This balanced decision-making process, centred on understanding and respecting people’s wishes, helps care teams better understand the motivations and reasoning behind them.
Examples of Positive Risk Taking in Mental Health Support
Positive risk-taking is about balancing safety with growth. Instead of avoiding all risk, support workers help people take planned, thoughtful risks that build independence, confidence, and quality of life and ultimately, a fulfilling life. It focuses on what someone can do, supported by strategies that reduce harm without blocking opportunities. Here is a clear, practical description of the process of supporting someone to explore their community as a positive risk-taking activity:
For an anxious person in need of mental health support, exploring the community can turn out to be a gradual and very well-supported process to build confidence in public spaces and reduce anxiety in unfamiliar environments or agoraphobic triggers. It typically begins with collaborative planning, where the person, support worker, and family members choose a nearby place the person feels curious about, such as a small park, a quiet café, or a local library. They discuss potential concerns/harms (crowds, noise, getting lost) and agree on safety strategies, such as bringing headphones, identifying calm areas, or planning a clear route.
Next comes graded exposure, starting with minimal, manageable steps. This might involve walking past the location, sitting outside for a few minutes, or entering briefly during a quiet time of day. The support worker provides reassurance and grounding techniques, encouraging the person to notice what feels safe rather than what feels threatening, helping them acquire new skills. Over time, visits become slightly longer or more challenging, depending on the person’s pace, not a preset schedule.
Throughout the process, the focus is on reflection and encouragement. After each outing, the support worker helps the person review what went well, what felt difficult, and what adjustments might help next time. Celebrating small achievements builds self-belief, while reflecting on challenges strengthens coping strategies. As confidence grows, the person begins to explore new places more independently, using the skills they’ve practised to explore the community safely and with increasing freedom.
Besides this specific example, there are many other examples of taking positive risks, and here we list the most common with meaningful outcomes:
- Attending community groups, hobby classes, or coffee meetups to overcome isolation
- Preparing for and attending family visits or friend meetups, using boundaries and communication strategies to keep the experience positive.
- Visiting a new park, café, shop, or library can help reduce triggers of agoraphobia and increase confidence in public spaces.
- Practising a route with a support worker, then gradually travelling alone with safety strategies (a charged phone, a clear plan, confidence-building steps).
- Exploring mindfulness, journaling, breathing exercises, therapy-based worksheets, or grounding techniques, even when they feel unfamiliar at first.
Examples of Positive Risk Taking for People with Learning Disabilities
Supporting people with a learning disability to become more independent, gain extra confidence, and build everyday life skills involves taking risks in many activities. Let’s say travelling on public transport, engaging in social and physical activities, and managing their own finances.
Handling money, for example, is a gradual, confidence-building process we will discuss as one of the examples and reveal the steps towards it. It begins with understanding the person’s starting point, their current skill level, anxieties, and goals, while being aware of their need. Together, the person and support worker create a simple plan: for example, buying one item at a local shop, practising checking change, or learning to use a bank card safely. Visual aids, budgeting worksheets, or mock coins may be introduced to make learning concrete and meaningful.
The next stage involves supported practice in real-life situations. This may start with role-play at home, then progress to supervised shopping trips. The person might carry a small amount of money, identify items, check prices, and pay at the till. The support worker stays nearby as part of risk management, keeping potential risks in mind and offering prompts only when necessary so the person can lead the interaction. Mistakes, such as giving the wrong coin or forgetting to collect change, are seen as standard parts of learning, not failures. As confidence grows, the person may progress to using contactless payments, simple budgeting apps, or an ATM while being supported from a respectful distance.
Finally, the process includes reflection, reinforcement, and increasing independence. After each practice, the support worker and person talk about what went well, what felt tricky, and what could help next time. Achievements are celebrated to reinforce motivation. Over time, levels of support are reduced: the person may shop alone for small items, budget for weekly snacks, or manage a prepaid card safely. Through this person-centred, positive risk-taking approach, what begins as a risk becomes a meaningful step toward autonomy and everyday confidence.
Supporting Positive Risk Taking Through Person-Centred Planning
Person-centred, positive risk-taking is a strengths-based process that helps people make informed choices about their lives while recognising and managing potential risks. It views risk as something to enable and navigate, rather than merely to avoid. Good person-centred planning starts from who the person is (preferences, strengths, values, relationships) and works with them to balance safety and opportunity.
There are a few key principles that care workers must know before implementing positive risk-taking:
- Risk is dynamic, meaning it can change as circumstances, health, trusting relationships, or environment change.
- Always use multiple sources of information, including the person’s perspective, family, and data from previous incidents, among others.
- Risk cannot be eliminated, only managed. Focus on reducing likelihood/severity while keeping the potential for benefit in view.
- Risk can produce positive collaborations. Shared decision-making brings together the person, family, support workers, advocates, and community supports to co-design solutions.
Defensible Decision-Making and the Tools That Support It
Once a culture that values positive outcomes for supported people is established through making defensible decision-making (making transparent, well-reasoned, and clearly documented choices, so that any professional can explain why the decision was made, how it was made, and what information it was based on), person-centred care is an inevitable part of care provision.
For each positive risk decision record:
- The person’s stated outcome and why it matters to them.
- The realistic risks (likelihood + consequence).
- Information sources used (person, family, clinical notes, observations).
- Mitigation strategies and who is responsible.
- The person’s informed consent or reasons for refusal.
- The agreed timescale and review date.
- An explicit rationale showing why the benefit outweighs the residual risk (defensible decision).
Tools and approaches that help in this process are graded exposure/stepwise trials (small, reversible steps) that can reduce overwhelming sensations. Accessible risk-assessment templates that combine strengths, triggers, mitigation and review (many LAs provide versions). Another practice is ‘What matters to you’ conversations and outcomes-focused planning templates, keeping the person’s goal centred, and multidisciplinary reviews in times when risks are complex.
Positive Risk Taking with Unique Community Services
Jane spent over nine months in an institutional setting before beginning to reclaim her own life in a way that matters the most to her. Initially cautious and hesitant, she faced the challenge of exploring a world structured around others’ routines.
Through collaboration with our support team and her family, Jane was encouraged to:
- Choose her own activities (selecting what she enjoys)
- Participate in care-plan reviews – contributing directly to informed decisions about her support.
- Gradually explore her community – taking independent walks in the local park while staff observed from a distance.
These calculated risks were not about recklessness but about enabling Jane to safely take control of her life while being aware of her surroundings. Each step strengthened her self-determination and emotional resilience, reducing her reliance on others while promoting her well-being and enabling her to make her own decisions.
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