Wellness and reablement: three providers share their experiences
All community care providers are now required to adopt a wellness and reablement approach, while the government’s expansion of restorative care kicks off mid-year.
However, pioneering providers have been on the front foot for some time. Three leaders in the sector will come together on a panel at the upcoming Active Ageing Conference 2016 to share their experiences embedding these approaches across their organisations.
Here the providers tell Australian Ageing Agenda about their journeys so far:
How to: reablement means treating client as a ‘well person, not a sick patient’: As part of its organisational philosophy, Alzheimer’s Queensland, which is both a peak body representing people with dementia and a service provider, focuses on supporting clients to continue engaging with interests and life in their local community. The organisation focuses on what people can do, not what they can’t.
Consumers ‘calling the shots’ in successful reablement program: Even before the current policy push, Catholic Community Services NSW/ACT was actively working towards a holistic wellness model underpinned by a belief that older people can improve their health despite frailty. Since 2013, it has trained all its care workers and coordinators in reablement.
Making ‘healthy normal’ in aged care requires mindset change: For the past two years, Southern Cross Care SA/NT has been rolling out its organisation-wide reablement approach to reverse its clients’ decline and bring about healthy outcomes. While the roll out is not yet complete, the organisation has already seen a 54 per cent reduction in fractures.