Re-ablement service is designed to benefit people who might need short term care and support to help them gain confidence and re-learn basic skills necessary for daily living by providing the lowest appropriate level of intervention. We making sure that their home environment is safe and by so doing, eliminate the need for the patient to stay in the hospital or residential care as they regain their confidence and ultimately independence.

Reablement helps you re-learn to do things for yourself rather than relying on other people. The service is for people aged 65 and over living in their own home. To get the service, your doctor, social worker or a nurse must refer you to reablement in the local Trust.
What the service can do for you
Reablement is a short term assessment and support service. It usually lasts six weeks or less and takes place in your own home.

The reablement service is made up of a reablement occupational therapists and a reablement support workers.

The team will support you to become more independent in daily activities, such as:

• Personal care (washing, showering/bathing)
• Getting dressed and undressed
• Getting into and out of bed or a chair
• Toileting and promoting continence
• Medication
• Meal preparation
• Moving around your house

Who can use the service?

You can use the reablement service if you are over 65 and:
require a support package (such as a domiciliary care package)
need an increase in your existing support package to help you with your daily living activities and if you have experienced a crisis, such as illness, deterioration in health or sustained an injury.

How you can get the service

To get the service, a health and social care professional needs to refer you to the local Trust’s reablement team. For example:
your GP, a nurse or a social worker can refer you.
This can happen when you leave hospital or from your local health and social care office.

What happens once you have been referred?

When you have been offered the service, a reablement occupational therapist will:

• visit you in your home,
• carry out an assessment of your needs, for example, looking at your daily living activities to find out what you can and cannot do for yourself,
• agree an independence plan for you.

The reablement support workers will work with you to:

• Help and encourage you to practise these daily living activities
• Help you regain skills and confidence that you may have lost
• This in turn helps in regaining your independence.