What is Reablement Care?
Reablement support is a type of care that helps individuals to continue living independently at home for longer.
Reablement services provide short term care plans, usually up to six weeks, that help individuals relearn and retain skills needed to perform daily tasks following a period of illness or injury. The service can help people to leave hospital more quickly and, in many cases, can prevent the need for readmission or longer-term care.
The role of a reablement support worker is to work with people consistently throughout their care plan to help them regain the confidence to live independently in their own homes. This includes helping with activities such as making food, moving around the house, washing or dressing. Unlike other forms of care such as residential care or traditional home care, reablement focuses on doing tasks with an individual rather than for them.
Whilst some more support may be required at first, over the course of the care plan, reablement support workers gradually take more steps back to observe with tasks and provide encouragement until the individual on the plan can confidently perform tasks themselves again. Although the typical time frame is six weeks, many people reach their goals quicker than this.
Reablement care workers will often work on several care plans at once and will spend the day making visits to the different people they support. When one person meets their goals, the reablement worker will be assigned a new person to support.
Why is Reablement Care Important?
Reablement plays an important role in preventing people from needing longer term care or residential care. The main goal of reablement is to build confidence and provide guidance that encourages people to relearn everyday skills. Without this free support it can be difficult for people to regain the confidence they once had and this can hinder the recovery or readjustment process.
Often, although a person feels better and is physically well enough to be discharged from hospital, their stay can be extended due to them not having family nearby or people who are able to support them in the longer term recovery process. Reablement helps people to be discharged from hospital once they feel better and return to their home comforts. A timely discharge from hospital is particularly important for the elderly, due to the impact that prolonged best rest has on strength and muscle capacity. By helping people get up and moving more quickly, reablement can help prevent further health implications.
As well as physical benefits, reablement care also provides many emotional benefits, especially to those who may not have much contact with friends or family. For many a recovery period can feel very isolating and the visits from a reablement support worker may be some people’s only interaction in a day or week. Reablement means that people don’t need to feel alone during this period and offers a friendly face and person to talk to until the person can get back to living their normal life.
For many reablement services are a lifeline and reablement support workers play a pivotal role in helping people staying independent and continuing to do the things they love.
We are currently recruiting for reablement support workers on behalf of several of our local authority clients.
Find out more about the flexible opportunities in reablement care we are currently recruiting for via the links below:
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