The user voice: older people's experiences of reablement and rehabilitation

Author(s)

TRAPPES-LOMAX Tessa, HAWTON Annie

Publisher(s):

Emerald

Effective reablement is dependent on service users' co-operation and motivation. It therefore needs to be highly responsive to their needs and views. This study offers specific user views about their experiences in different settings and at different stages of reablement, together with their ideas for how it might work better. The study describes the experiences of 42 older people in rehabilitation services in community hospitals and local authority short-term residential units followed by “usual care” services at home. It is based on semi-structured face-to-face interviews in 2002/3, from East and Mid Devon, England. Findings revealed four main themes: the complexity of rehabilitative need; the influence of the setting; the role of the staff; and the availability of reablement support back at home. The authors concluded that the findings demonstrate changing rehabilitative needs along the care pathway, with implications for commissioners and providers of reablement services.