Dementia care resource aims to lift reablement use
Access to dementia care programmes that help people maintain independence and quality of life remains limited in Australia’s aged care sector, despite research suggesting the interventions are beneficial.
A new dementia care implementation guide from UNSW Sydney, Neuroscience Research Australia (NeuRA) and HammondCare is intended to help aged care providers introduce reablement programmes into everyday care.
The guide, Reablement for people with cognitive changes or dementia living in the community: A practical implementation guide, includes advice on staff training, who should deliver different parts of a programme, and how services can work together to provide ongoing support.
Lead researcher Dr Claire O’Connor from UNSW Sydney and NeuRA said one of the sector’s biggest challenges was turning dementia research into routine practice. “Developing effective interventions is only half the challenge. Ensuring they reach the people who could benefit is equally important,” O’Connor said.
Barriers in aged care
UNSW and NeuRA researchers worked with aged care providers and other stakeholders to develop the guide and examine why reablement programmes are not widely available in Australia.
O’Connor said barriers for providers included limited capacity to deliver reablement programmes, a lack of knowledge and training, and missed opportunities to offer the programmes when people with cognitive decline or dementia first access services.
The guide helps organisations assess whether staff have the right skills and confidence, whether multidisciplinary teams are working together effectively, and whether systems are in place to make the programmes part of everyday care.
Examples of reablement in dementia care include support from an occupational therapist to adapt gardening tools, changes to a yard so a person can keep gardening safely, and help with meal preparation through practising everyday tasks or modifying a kitchen environment.
The programmes also include personalised exercise plans to maintain strength, balance and mobility, while family members and carers are encouraged to take part where appropriate.
Professor Chris Poulos, Director of the Positive Ageing Research programme at HammondCare, said reablement could help people living with dementia maintain independence, confidence and quality of life.
The implementation guide is part of resources on HammondCare’s Reablement Hub, which also includes an intervention handbook, an assessment guide for goal setting and measuring outcomes, a consumer booklet for people living with dementia and their families, and a technical guide on the evidence behind the programmes.
