On 22 May, the Wiltshire Council Reablement Service celebrated five years of providing an innovative service that supports people to achieve what’s important to them to live at home independently.
Reablement is a short-term intensive support service provided by specially trained social care staff, including occupational therapists and reablement workers, who work with adults in their own homes, to enable them to do things themselves and re-learn skills they may have lost.
The service is available to adults who typically live independently at home, but who might have lost physical ability or confidence in carrying out their day-to-day living tasks. The team aims to work with people in the community to identify their strengths and assets and live their best lives.
In the first year, reablement had 1,000 referrals – this has now more than tripled, with 3,340 referrals in the last year, 2022/2023.
When the service launched in 2018, it started with just 24 therapy staff and eight reablement provider staff. In 2023 this is a very different picture with 51 therapy staff and 130 reablement provider staff.
Cllr Jane Davies, Cabinet Member for Adult Social Care, said: “I’m really proud that our reablement team has achieved some incredible results, and in the last year 2022/2023, 78% of people were still in their home three months after having had reablement support, showing the great long-term results for the people they work with.
“Our reablement service has also retained it’s Good CQC rating in April 2023, and it’s a testament to our incredible and dedicated staff who continue to provide this empowering support.
“The team continues to grow and we want to offer the service to even more people – so we are always looking for more staff to join us. I’d encourage anyone interested to contact our recruitment team and help to be a part of this inspirational service.”
One gentleman who received support from the West Reablement Team in March 2023, said: “Reablement involvement has had a big impact on me, I'm pretty much independent with my morning routine. Workers have been fantastic encouraging at the right times but letting me do things myself when I could.
"My quality of life is much improved. I feel so much better at being more independent in the mornings and not having to rely on other people so much, which has helped with my dignity and helping me feel more positive.”
Information about the adult care process in Wiltshire and the services available to help people remain independent can be found at: https://adults.wiltshire.gov.uk/.
For more information about the roles available and job opportunities within the reablement team, people can email recruitment@wiltshire.gov.uk or visit https://jobs.wiltshire.gov.uk/adult-social-care.
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