Pathways to Empowerment as a working method for local social support services.

According to recent legislation, support provided by local authorities in the Netherlands ought to be strengths-based and empower inhabitants to gain control over their lives. This study examined the outcomes, critical elements and working mechanisms of Pathways to Empowerment (PTE), a person-centered, strengths-based intervention, in local social support services provided by a medium size Dutch local authority, from the perspective of citizens needing support. A year after implementation of PTE, semi-structured face-to-face interviews were held with 17 citizens onto their experiences with the provided support with PTE, inquiring their experiences with certain principles of PTE and the changes the support has brought into their lives.