Wellness & Reablement
With significant changes in the age care sector both the Commonwealth and State are committed to ensure that people who receive services are supported to remain as independent as possible.
Previously in Victoria, the Home and Community Care (HACC) Active Service Model quality improvement initiative promoted person centred care, wellness promotion, capacity building and restorative care in service delivery. It was based on the premise that many people have the potential to make gains in their wellbeing and placed the emphasis on timely interventions that prioritised capacity to maintain or promote a person’s ability to live as independently as possible at home.
The focus for the Commonwealth Home Support Programme (CHSP) is on wellness, reablement and restorative care, and for some service providers it involves a shift from a model that may have supported dependence to one that actively promotes independence – a change to ‘doing with’ rather than ‘doing for’.
The ‘Living Well at Home: CHSPGood Practice Guide’ has been developed to provide information about the wellness, reablement and restorative care approaches and what good practice looks like in home support services.
The guide suggests that ‘Wellness is an approach that involves assessment, planning and delivery of supports that build on the strengths, capacity and goals of individuals, and encourage actions that promote a level of independence in daily living tasks, as well as reducing risks to living safely at home’ (Living Well at Home: CHSP Good Practice Guide June, 2015 p10).
Reablement is described as ‘time-limited interventions that are targeted towards a person’s specific goal or desired outcome to adapt to some functional loss, or regain confidence and capacity to resume activities’ (Living Well at Home: CHSP Good Practice Guide June, 2015 p10).
‘Restorative care involves evidence-based interventions led by allied health workers that allow a person to make a functional gain or improvement after a setback, or in order to avoid a preventable injury’ (Living Well at Home: CHSP Good Practice Guide June, 2015 p10).
Regional Support
Wellness & Reablement Consultants are employed in each Department of Health & Human Services region to support organisations to implement / sustain the Wellness & Reablement approach in their region through:
- Being the key communication point for Wellness and Reablement developments and information within the region
- Assisting Commonwealth Health Support Programme (CHSP) and Home and Community Care Program for Younger People (HACC PYP) service providers within the region gain a consistent understanding of the Wellness and Reablement approach and its implications for practice and systems
- Providing practical operational support to agencies to put the Wellness and Reablement approach into practice as a broad sustainable change management strategy
- Assisting in the broader implementation of the Wellness and Reablement initiative through sharing information on barriers, enablers and practice learnings and developments at a regional and state-wide level.
Grampians Region Wellness and Reablement Consultant:
Wendy Altmann Phone: 03 5338 0579 Mobile: 0409 945 301 Email: wendya@bchc.org.au
Resources:
Client Engagement, Co-design and Co-production
Consumer Feedback Toolkit (EMR HACC Alliance). Practical advice, tools and strategies to assist staff to design, plan and implement consumer feedback strategies that are appropriate for a diverse range of clients. http://kpassoc.com.au/resources/consumer-engagement/
The Step Forward Together toolkit has been published by CommunityWest (W.A.) for community aged care providers who want to implement or improve the Wellness and Enablement focus of services and programs. CommunityWest (W.A.) is no longer operational. For access to this resource please contact your regional Wellness and Reablement Consultant.
Service Specific Assessment, Care Planning and Review
Goal Directed Care Planning Toolkit: Practical strategies to support effective goal setting and care planning with HACC clients (2015, Kate Pascale and Associates). http://kpassoc.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/Goal-Directed-Care-Planning-Toolkit-Web-version.pdf
Support Loop (Hume Whittlesea PCP). The Support Loop resource provides an approach for improving monitoring and feedback communication systems. http://www.hwpcp.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/The-Support-Loop-Resource-1.pdf
Social Support: Dementia Friendly Checklist (Uniting AgeWell). Checklist for all social support programs with best practice approaches to support group participants living with dementia, their carers and staff. http://www.g21hwbpillar.com.au/resources/dementia-friendly-social-support-%E2%80%93-checklist-report
Planned Activity Groups – Making it Meaningful: Assessment and care planning guidelines and tools (Jun 2015). https://www2.health.vic.gov.au/about/publications/policiesandguidelines/pag-service-specific-assessment-care-planning-guidelines-tools
Living at Home Assessment tool and guidelines (Department of Health and Human Services). https://www2.health.vic.gov.au/getfile/?sc_itemid=%7bEE4C4FB6-ECF3-4489-96F4-5A626229643E%7d
Barwon Assessment and Care Planning guidelines and tools (Barwon 2013). This tool promotes a conversational, person centred approach that focuses on how the person is managing, their strengths, interests and motivation to improve their capacity to self-manage.
Tools are available via Barwon/South West Wellness and Reablement Consultants: mailto:Ami.hodgkinson@bch.org.au OR SLove@warnambool.vic.gov.au
Planned Activity Group Pathways: A guide to implementing an ASM approach to PAG (2nd edition). http://caladenia.com.au/pdfs/PAG2014PathwaysManual.pdf
Inclusive, wellness and person centred Communication Practices:
Consumer Feedback Toolkit (EMR HACC Alliance). Practical advice, tools and strategies to assist staff to design, plan and implement consumer feedback strategies that are appropriate for a diverse range of clients. http://kpassoc.com.au/resources/consumer-engagement/
Connecting through Inclusive Communication Practices (EMR Alliance 2017). This resource has been developed to support the use of inclusive, person centred communication by CHSP and HACC PYP. https://www.emralliance.org/connecting-through-inclusive-communication-practices.html
Embedding Wellness and Reablement into Service Delivery:
Connecting the Pieces (EMR Alliance 2016) video and accompanying guide articulates the unique aspects of diversity and person centred care and importantly, the relationship between these approaches, how they influence each other and the need for diversity and person centred care to be understood throughout the continuum of the client’s journey. https://www.emralliance.org/connecting-the-pieces.html
Enabling the use of easy living equipment for everyday activities – guidelines and training package (MAV). http://docs2.health.vic.gov.au/docs/doc/DE51FCD348B39D74CA257D7F001515EC/$FILE/easy%20living%20equipment%20guide.pdf
Eating for Independence. A training program for the nutrition care of older people living in the community. Hume Dietitian’s toolkit (2015).
Train the Trainer Workshop for HACC Dietitians: Eating for Independence contact: Chadia Bastin, Project Coordinator: chadia.bastin@gatewayhealth.org.au Beth Dawson, Wellness and Reablement Consultant, Hume: Beth.Dawson@gatewayhealth.org.au
Supporting Volunteers to take an Active Service approach: A resource kit for managers and coordinators of HACC Volunteers (2013). https://www.emralliance.org/supporting-volunteers-to-take-an-active-service-approach.html
Supporting Older People Living Well at Home…Understanding the Role of the OT (2017, Kate Pascale and Associates).
This resource focusses on the OT’s practice with older people, and people with disabilities, how they have worked with consumers and other staff to achieve positive outcomes, both for individual clients and by building the capacity of the workforce. Contact Wellness & Reablement Consultant for access to this resource https://www2.health.vic.gov.au/ageing-and-aged-care/home-and-community-care/hacc-program-for-younger-people/hacc-program-guidelines/hacc-quality-and-service-development/active-service-model/putting-asm-into-practice
How much physical activity is appropriate for a PAG? This landmark study addresses this very question and makes recommendations that focus on physical activity, wellness and engagement. http://www.nari.net.au/elearning/story.html
Other Resources:
Partnership Analysis Tool (VicHealth). This resource is for organisations working in a partnership to assess, monitor and maximise its ongoing effectiveness. https://www.vichealth.vic.gov.au/search/the-partnerships-analysis-tool
Plan, do, study, act (PDSA) – a model for improvement – continuous improvement framework 2009; a resource of the Victorian service coordination practice manual.