(020) 3137 5370 
Newsletter sign up 
What is re-ablement?
Re-ablement is the provision of short-term practical and emotional support to assist patients to recover, build resilience and increase independence at home. This may include (but is not limited to) getting out of, or going to, bed; transfers between bed, chair and toilet as appropriate (with consideration for the appropriate equipment); washing; bathing; denture and mouth care; hand, foot and skin care; dressing and undressing.
Which type of patient is re-ablement suitable for?
Re-ablement helps people with poor physical or mental health learn or relearn the skills necessary for daily living. Most of the people referred to HomeLink Healthcare for re-ablement by GPs, consultants and other professionals are elderly, frail and unable to travel for treatment.
“Excellent exercises and very good physiotherapists. They were very patient and thorough in their approach and explained all the exercises well and were most encouraging. Now I know what to practice and how to continue the exercises daily”
– Patient feedback
HomeLink Healthcare’s re-ablement experience:
HomeLink Healthcare is a clinician-led organisation that has been providing Hospital at Home services since 2016.
HomeLink Healthcare’s re-ablement pathway:
- supports patients in their own homes to increase their independence and mobility
- reduces waiting lists for community physiotherapy services
- avoids patients being admitted to hospital because they couldn’t access timely physiotherapy support needed to enable them to stay in their own home.
Therapy-led support is offered through experienced and caring physiotherapists, occupational therapists, nurses and rehabilitation support workers.
We work in conjunction with local partner organisations or as the sole provider of care.
What are the key features of the re-ablement approach?
- Re-ablement focuses on a person’s strengths to promote and maximise independence and wellbeing.
- Re-ablement builds confidence after a spell of illness, deterioration in health, an injury, a hospital admission or an acquired disability.
- Re-ablement is different to traditional home care services as it involves care providers standing back and encouraging the promotion of self-care skills that may have been lost.
- Re-ablement supports people to regain or retain skills to enable them to manage with minimal or no support.
- Re-ablement is short-term and intensive; typically provided for up to six weeks.
- Re-ablement is not means-tested – the service is free to people who meet the locally defined eligibility criteria.
- Re-ablement focuses on restoring independent functioning, rather than resolving healthcare issues.
- Re-ablement aims to prevent re-admission to hospital or premature move to a care home.
- Re-ablement is usually provided in a person’s own home, but may be provided in an intermediate care facility.
- Re-ablement is about setting and working toward meaningful goals.
- Re-ablement aims to reconnect people with their communities to reduce social isolation.
- Re-ablement can help to reduce the amount of care the person needs from carers and family.
- Re-ablement reduces the need to visit the hospital emergency department
DOWNLOAD OUR CASE STUDY
Our collaboration with four NHS organisations across Norfolk and Waveney ICS frees up two hospital wards every day and was shortlisted for a 2023 HSJ Partnership Award.
Download the case study and you’ll learn:
- The impact that can be achieved on increasing hospital capacity, improving patient flow, reducing delayed discharges and delivering great patient outcomes
- The benefits of working collaboratively with an expert Hospital at Home provider
How does the HomeLink Healthcare reablement service work?
When patients are referred to us we use the Barthel index to assess functional independence, and EQ-5D-5L – a self-assessed, health-related, quality-of-life questionnaire.
Our trained and qualified therapists, reablement support workers and healthcare assistants will visit people in their own homes according to an agreed schedule. During the visit, our staff will carry out the agreed reablement interventions, and report against KPIs and outcome measures.
Where appropriate we can provide access to mobility aids, assistive technology, and digital solutions to support rehabilitation and reablement in the place that patients call home. We are also able to provide wrap around care if required.
What impact does reablement have for patients and the NHS?
In the nine months from October 2021 to June 2022, our Lewisham reablement service saw 297 patients and delivered 2,323 visits. As a result, a waiting list of 203 patients in October 2021 was reduced by 85% to just 30 by June 2022.
At the same time, the agreed outcome measures show that patients are less dependent, report better health, and are more mobile, better able to self-care, more able to carry out their usual activities, in less pain or discomfort, and less anxious or depressed.
Our partnership with Lewisham Adult Therapy Team saw a waiting list of 203 reduce by 85% to 30 in just 18 weeks. The partnership was shortlisted for a Chief Allied Health Professionals Officers (CAHPO) award. Read the case study here.
Work with us
Find out more about the process of commissioning HomeLink Healthcare to set up a hospital at home service.
Get in touch
To speak to a member of our team about our reablement services, call us on (020) 3137 5370 or contact us. You can tell us about your situation, and we can tell you more about our experience of supporting our NHS partners with reablement and how we might be able to help you.
You might also be interested in:
Home 
Resources
Case study
Physiotherapy at Home reduces care costs by over 65%
Intensive physiotherapy at home can dramatically improve patient outcomes, shorten waiting lists and reduce care costs by over 65%.
Read more
Company news
Finalists for Best Healthcare Provider Partnership with the NHS at HSJ Awards
Our partnership with Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust (GSTT) led to Award nomination.
Read more
Company news
A day in the life of a Community Physiotherapist
Saahil describes what working as a community physiotherapist for HomeLink Healthcare is like.
Read more
Thought leadership
CEO presents lessons learnt from setting up and managing virtual wards
Our Chief Executive and Clinical Director Jill Ireland has been in demand this month and has presented at three events in the past month. See her in action here.
Read more
Company news
Celebrating AHPs Day
We are proud to have a team of experienced, multi-skilled Allied Health Professionals and each year we celebrate the 14 AHPs on the 14th day in October.
Read more
Company news
A day in the life of a Rehabilitation Support Worker
Mazen describes his role as a Rehabilitation Support Worker at HomeLink Healthcare and the culture of the organisation that drives ways of working.
Read more
Case study
Supporting the flow of patient care from hospital to home
NNUH at Home is a co-created service, set up in 2019 to release in-patient bed capacity and improve patient flow.
Read more
Thought leadership
5 minutes with April Thompson, Head of Clinical and Operational Services
In this interview April discusses her role and how her time working for the NHS has helped her and her thoughts on the future of patient care..
Read more
Got a question? Contact us on (020) 3137 5370
Join our mailing list
Get the latest news, case studies and opinion pieces
