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

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to report verbatim the voices of older people describing their experiences of rehabilitation services in community hospitals and local authority short‐term residential units followed by “usual care” services at home. It aims to contribute directly to the implementation of the DH Section 256 “reablement guidance”.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper is a qualitative study, based on semi‐structured face‐to‐face interviews in 2002/3, with 42 participants (mean age 81.4 years) using interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA).

Findings

Four main themes emerged from users' comments: the complexity of rehabilitative need, the influence of the setting, the role of the staff and the availability of reablement support back at home.

Research limitations/implications

Qualitative studies have limited generalisability, but these findings are consistent both with other studies of user experience and with earlier related evidence about assessment, institutionalisation and psychological factors.

Practical implications

The findings clearly demonstrate changing rehabilitative needs along the care pathway, with implications for commissioners and providers of reablement services. The findings bring a user perspective to current debates about the integration of services and the use of pooled budgets.

Originality/value

Effective reablement is critically 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 data are analysed within a single framework, offering an example of the type of local evaluation currently sought by the Department of Health.

Citation

Trappes‐Lomax, T. and Hawton, A. (2012), "The user voice: older people's experiences of reablement and rehabilitation", Journal of Integrated Care, Vol. 20 No. 3, pp. 181-195. https://doi.org/10.1108/14769011211237528