Reablement has been defined as services for people with poor physical or mental health to help them accommodate their illness by learning or re-learning the skills necessary for daily living. Reablement is often the approach taken when people are discharged from hospital or recovering from severe illness at home and it is usually a time-limited approach to reduce the need for longer-term interventions that can promote dependence on services.

This organisation is committed to empowering people to do things for themselves rather than having things done for them. Traditional homecare models can lead to dependence and long term reliance on care services. The use of a reablement approach, and subsequent interventions, can ultimately result in reducing or preventing the need for traditional homecare.

Reablement is a strengths-based, person-centred approach that promotes and maximises independence and wellbeing. It aims to ensure positive change using user-defined goals and is designed to enable people to gain, or regain, their confidence, ability, and necessary skills to live as independently as possible, especially after an illness, deterioration in health or injury. Reablement is:
Personalised: people have a choice and control over their care plan.
Independence-orientated: supports people to maintain daily activities and connect with communities, friends and families.
Strengths-based: draws on an individual’s strengths and assets.
Outcome-focused: what goals the person is working towards?
Risk Aware: willing to prepare for potential risks.

The reablement team often consists of reablement assessors, reablement support workers and occupational therapists. However, in some areas, other disciplines such as physiotherapy may also be included. Staff skills and knowledge of reablement principles are regarded as key to successful reablement.

Reablement assessors or occupational therapists will carry out the assessment process, which involves measuring the person’s baseline in all aspects of activities of daily living. An assessment that involves the individual and family or representative where possible, identifies meaningful functional goals and outcomes are developed with the individual, to promote wellbeing, autonomy, independence and choice. It aims to enable people to be and to do what they have reason to value.

The support plan will be developed with the person who uses services in the hospital or at home and identifies the outcomes they would like to achieve. Equipment or resources will be put in place as required.
The support plan including goals and objectives will be reviewed regularly and revised as necessary by the reablement team.
Support workers will follow the support plan and work daily with the person receiving the reablement service. Their focus is on observing, guiding and encouraging the person who uses services to do things themselves, to rebuild confidence and improve skills that may have been lost. These staff will have additional training to adopt the enablement approach.
Managing expectations about the reablement experience is an important part of the assessment and planning. Everyone needs to be familiar with the ethos of reablement and its boundaries in terms of its nature and length of support.
As the period of reablement comes to an end, because there can be anxiety regarding managing alone or transferring to a long-term care service it is important that the individual, family and friends have a clear understanding of what is happening next and that they are signposted to local services and organisations for support when required. As an organisation, we will ensure the individual and families are supported at this time.

Assessment of Needs and Eligibility
Care and Support Planning
Co-operating with other Providers
Dignity and Respect
Meeting Needs
Person-Centred Procedure
Risk Assessment

NICE Guideline [NG74] Intermediate Care including Reablement, September 2017:
https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ng74
NICE Quality Statement [QS173]: Intermediate Care including Reablement, August 2018:
https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/qs173

All staff, during induction, are made aware of the organisation’s policies and procedures, all of which are used for training updates. All policies and procedures are reviewed and amended where necessary, and staff are made aware of any changes. Observations are undertaken to check skills and competencies. Various methods of training are used, including one to one, online, workbook, group meetings, and individual supervisions. External courses are sourced as required.

Date Reviewed: May 2021
Person responsible for updating this policy: Carly Fortune
Next Review Date: May 2022