What is Reablement Care?
Reablement care is short-term or intermediate care that supports people with how to do things after spending time in a hospital or having an illness. The main goal of reablement is to help people regain their confidence and ability to live as independently as possible through intensive support.
Reablement consists of daily check-ups from trained staff focused on guiding and encouraging individuals to do things independently. This helps boost confidence and improve any skills that may have been lost. Most people receive intermediate care for around two weeks, but it is also offered for up to six weeks.
Reablement workers provide ongoing support in the person’s own home, and consistency is essential to establish and maintain a strong relationship based on trust, and for progress to be easily monitored.
What Services are Offered with Reablement
A reablement team comprises a mix of people trained and specialised in performing activities tailored to a person’s needs. The team might include the following:
- Physiotherapist
- Nurse
- Speech and language therapist
- Social workers
- Carer
- Doctor
- Support Workers
The team will start with an assessment and work out a support plan alongside the person in need to provide intermediate care services. Some of the services within the reablement plan include:
- Regaining mobility
- Housework
- Personal Care
- Preparing meals
- Shopping
- Physical Therapy
- Rehabilitation
- Medication administration
- Social Activities
The Role and Principles of Reablement
One of the most critical principles of reablement is that it is strengths-based, ongoing care with a person-centred approach and helps promote wellbeing while maximising independence. The role of reablement is to ensure a positive change in people who recently left the hospital or were ill and regain their confidence, ability, and skills to live independently.
Wellness and reablement are based on the notion that even after a hospital stay, having physical disabilities or a chronic illness, most people want to improve their wellbeing. That’s why some of the main principles of reablement include:
- Focusing on strengths and what the person “can” do
- Support people in reaching their potential
- Identify the person’s goals
- Promote independence
- Encouraging the person to take part in creating their care plan
Overall, a reablement service is proven to promote faster recovery times, prevent unnecessary hospital admissions and maximise the ability for independent living.
How Long Does Reablement Last?
Reablement services are support-based, short-term assessments that usually last from two to six weeks.
Typically, the reablement team will go into a person’s home for about six weeks, and if the reablement support workers believe less time is needed to reach specific goals, then the process will be shorter.
Reablement Care vs Traditional Rehabilitation
Reablement is a health and social care support service that supports people doing things for themselves. This is a “doing with” approach, different to traditional home care which could look like a “doing for” model. Personal care at home, irrespective of the medical diagnosis, aims to assist people to continue living their lives as they wish.
Reablement seeks to enable individuals to do ordinary activities like dressing, cooking, moving around the home and going out.
These approaches are based on re-establishing daily live skills rather than focusing on traditional goals of “maintenance and support.” Reablement care is goal-oriented and aims to build the individual’s goals and strengths with the objective of fostering greater independence.
Who is Reablement For?
With the traditional care approach in the past, when one is discharged from the hospital and needs extra support, the chances are that person would be referred to a care home. Carers often undertake tasks for that particular individual, without the opportunity to encourage independence.
Now, the focus is more on promoting independence and helping people regain the abilities they had before their hospital stay. Some of the people that might benefit from reablement care include:
- Older adults over the age of 65 after staying in a hospital
- People that might have experienced an illness, sustained injury or have deterioration in health
- If a person receives home care, reablement should be considered as part of the re-assessment process
Benefits of Reablement Care at Home
Reablement care is a beneficial approach as it sets clear goals for recovery and sets a specific aim to work towards. The goal can be broken down into smaller goals that can be achieved daily or weekly, meaning that people can see tangible results from very early in the process.
Other benefits include:
- A customised plan to client strengths
- Focusing on specific outcomes
- Promoting wellbeing
- Promoting independence
- Reducing the need for future care
- Preventing loneliness and social isolation
- Enabling prolonged ability to live independently at home
How Leaf Complex Care Supports People with Reablement Services
The reablement care support service at Leaf Complex Care is a program that aims to increase people’s independence.
This is important because it helps in providing significant benefits to physical and mental wellbeing and quality of life. Our support workers create a person-centred approach that maximises wellbeing and independence.
At Leaf Complex Care, we aim to enable people to gain or regain their ability, skills and confidence with the help of our dedicated and specially trained health and social care support workers to ensure the best possible outcome.
If you want to learn more about our services, check our website or call us!
Reablement Support Workers Careers
If you are a support worker and want a career where you can help people, make an impact and work with an amazing team, then don’t hesitate to apply for a job on our website!
