Why do we need to talk about the Whole Person Approach?

One of the main reasons we were selected amongst almost 30 other proposals to carry out the evaluation of the Global Humanitarian Partnership between C&A, C&A Foundation and Save the Children was because our proposal focused on people and on the relationship between people. This was thanks to the inclusion of the Whole Person Approach (WPA) in the proposal. Yet, describing what the WPA is without sounding cheesy and wishy-washy is hard.

During the delivery of the evaluation both team members and the client group was sceptical of WPA’s effectiveness. We always had to have a plan B, just in case the WPA would not work. I was always confident we would not need to resort to our plan B, and we didn’t. However, I felt the constant pressure to prove the WPA would work at every step of the evaluation.

This made me realise we need to talk more about what the WPA is and how it works, even if it sounds “non-professional”. Indeed, it sounds weird to bring the “whole person” – mind, body, heart and soul – into conversations with businesses. I’ve always liked a challenge. So, I decided it was time to start this conversation. In this video I talk about how we can use the WPA to encourage non-linear thinking. In other video interviews, I invite my team members and clients to share their own experience with WPA. To know more, get in touch with us!