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Reablement and support workers
Dibsdall, Lisa Clampin, Anna Chapman, Hazel M.
Dibsdall, Lisa
Clampin, Anna
Chapman, Hazel M.
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2018-03-30
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Abstract
Chapter outline
Support workers are key to the delivery of reablement services as they are
the people who work on a day-to-day basis with service users. Support
workers may join reablement teams without any experience in working
in health and social care. More commonly, support workers move into
reablement teams from therapy assistant roles or from working in a home
care service. These support workers bring a wealth of experience to the
role, but differences in both the process and the outcome of reablement
and home care can offset the benefits of this experience. Reablement
is a change in approach to care from being ‘task-led’ to a ‘doing with’,
person-centred and outcomes-based approach. This holistic view
of working with people who use these services has been largely welcomed
by support workers who enjoy supporting them to do more for
themselves.
This chapter will consider some key skills and techniques used by
support workers in reablement services, such as use of equipment,
activity analysis and energy conservation. Support workers need
appropriate training and education in reablement so that practice is
meaningful, and the concept of reablement is clearly understood and
articulated. This is fundamental to an inclusive approach to interacting
with the service user, enabling them to grow in confidence and
autonomy, and engage in the process of reablement. Suggested topics
for inclusion in reablement training are included in this chapter and
it is argued that occupational therapists (OT) are suitably experienced,
and well placed, to provide this training. Before reading any further,
you may want to recap on the concept discussed in Chapter 1 in the
section ‘Defining occupation, activity and task (OAT) for reablement
interventions’.
Chapter objectives
By the end of this chapter you should be able to:
➢➢ Outline the development of the reablement support worker role
➢➢ Compare and contrast ‘doing to’ and ‘doing with’ support worker
approaches
➢➢ Explain the role of the support worker
➢➢ Evaluate equipment and reablement techniques support workers may use
➢➢ Describe the training requirements for being a support worker
➢➢ Consider the opportunities and challenges of being a support worker
Citation
Dibsdall, L., Clampin, A. & Chapman, H. M. (2018). Reablement and support workers. In Ebrahimi, V. A. & Chapman, H. M. (Eds.), Reablement services in health and social care: A guide to practice for students and support workers (pp. 216-228). London, United Kingdom: Palgrave.
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Palgrave
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Book chapter
Language
en
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9781137372642