“I see your punitive measure and I raise you a person-centered bar”: Supervisory Strategies to Promote Adoption of Person-Centered Care

Person-centered care remains a high priority within community mental health services. Clinical supervision is an embedded resource for professional development and promotion of high quality care. This study examined supervisory strategies during the implementation of person-centered care planning (PCCP) across two northeastern US States. A criterion sample of supervisor-provider teams participated in qualitative interviews (N = 34) and direct observation from 2016 to 2017. Modified grounded theory analyses were conducted and three supervisory strategies were identified. Supervisory attunement to providers (knowing their audience), active collaborative engagement with providers (practicing together), and infusing reminders and opportunities for feedback (chipping away) were critical strategies to engage providers in adopting PCCP. These strategies changed providers’ practice patterns by improving supervisors’ calibration to dynamic contextual and individual needs during implementation and communicating supervisors’ expectations of PCCP enactment. Workplace-based clinical supervision holds promise as a key intervention point to embed high quality care.