Exploring the experience of reablement: A systematic review and qualitative evidence synthesis of older people's and carers' views

Abstract

Concerns from the worldwide ageing population and evidence of poor-quality aged care services have highlighted the need to develop innovative models of aged care which are acceptable to older people, economically sustainable and are safe.Reablement is a relatively new model for aged care that aims to support older people's desires to age independently in their usual place of residence and decrease dependency on aged care services. This qualitative evidence synthesis aimed to explore the experiences of older people and their carers (formal and informal) towards a reablement model of community aged care to ensure services are considerate of older people's needs. A systematic search was conducted across six electronic databases (Medline, Scopus, CINAHL, PsycINFO, Cochrane Library and Google Scholar) from 1990 to September 2021. Qualitative research exploring older people and their carers' experiences and perceptions of the reablement model used in community aged care services were identified. Nineteen articles were included in the synthesis following the screening of 668 abstracts and 56 full texts. Included articles were subject to quality assessment, and the data were synthesised using thematic synthesis. Three analytical themes were generated from the thematic synthesis; (i) reablement is a shift in approach to aged care, (ii) difficulties in developing tangible and meaningful reablement goals, (iii) reablement improves health and well-being. Reablement is generally well-received by older people and their informal carers. However, poor engagement from older people did occur when they had a poor understanding of their role in reablement and when they had not been fully consulted regarding their reablement goals. Current and future reablement services for older people should focus on ensuring an awareness of the processes and principles of reablement and collaboration between practitioner, the older person and their carer when developing goals to increase engagement.

Exploring the Support and Involvement of Family Caregivers for Reablement Programs: A Qualitative Study

“…This is also supported by Hjelle et al, 13 who emphasize the importance of family caregivers’ need to receive but also give information. Additionally, making the family caregiver an equal member of the reablement team would make them feel heard and is an important strength of reablement interventions, 13 , 56 but it could also relieve some of the burden by decreasing the feeling of being alone in the process. 57 However, informal caregivers need to have a choice in the amount of involvement during the care process.…”

Exploring Goal-Setting and Achievement Within Reablement: A Comparative Case Study of Three Countries

“…4 Although evidence concerning the impact of reablement on user outcomes remains mixed, satisfaction levels are high. 5 Moreover, healthcare professionals indicate that reablement facilitates a shift in work culture through a "different way of thinking", creates higher engagement, promotes professional development and offers a better framework for collaboration and application of reablement. [6][7][8] There are indications that reablement may be able to reduce the need for ongoing care and permanent admissions.…”

Older Adults’ Experiences of Using Strategies to Maintain and Foster Social Participation: A Systematic Review with Metasynthesis of Qualitative Studies

“…However, current interventions and research are mainly aimed toward maintaining physical abilities. Terefore, practitioners and researchers need to develop interventions with a focus on social participation for older adults [8,11,12]. Social participation is known to be related to older adults' health.…”