The reablement approach supports people to do things for themselves. It is a ‘doing with’ model, in contrast to traditional home care which tends to be a ‘doing for’ model.

Reablement services help people to retain or regain their skills and confidence so they can learn to manage again after a period of illness.
The service is usually provided in the person’s own home by a team of mainly social care professionals. Consistency of workers is important to enable a relationship to be built with the person and for progress to be properly monitored.

Reablement, not rehabilitation

Reablement is an approach that, irrespective of diagnosis, aims to assist people to continue to live as they wish. It seeks to enable the individual to do ordinary activities like cooking meals, washing, dressing, moving about the home and going out.
Reablement may be used to support discharge from hospital, prevent readmission or enable an individual to remain living at home