The new Supporting client and family engagement with reablement resource from the University of York, which has been published by the Social Care Institute for Excellence (SCIE) is designed to help improve engagement with enablement services and consequently reduce pressure on the wider social care system and decrease the risk of hospital re-admission.

Kathryn Smith, SCIE chief executive, said: ‘Reablement is an important model of care that empowers people to continue living independently in their own homes for longer. It not only benefits the individual receiving the intervention, but also their loved ones, as it avoids the need to afford ongoing social care services and reduces the pressure on them to take on an unpaid carer role. More widely, it eases pressure on our overstretched and cash-strapped NHS and social care sector.'

The resource covers guidance on:

• how to refer to reablement services and staff to ensure consistency of language 
• supporting referring agencies to prepare people for reablement 
• ensuring equipment and other aids can be rapidly accessed 
• staff training, peer support and supervision 
• effective ways of working with clients and families 
• creating information leaflets and videos 
• running local public information campaigns. 

The resource also calls for increased funding for reablement services so that reablement staff have adequate time to work with clients and families, and for national investment in educating the public about social care, including reablement. 

The resource was funded by the National Institute for Health and Care Research's (NIHR) School for Social Care Research. It is freely available on the SCIE website at www.scie.org.uk/integrated-care/intermediate-care-reablement/supporting-client-and-family-engagement/