Reviewing the reablement approach to caring for older people

In this paper we tell of our critical review of reablement – an emerging global practice model in community- and home-based care for older people. Whereas the reablement approach is gaining global acceptance, there are questions and concerns among researchers and policy makers about what reablement means and how it is used in practice. We examined the literature on reablement between 2005 and 2017 using clearly defined inclusion criteria. We focused on identifying within authors’ accounts its essential features and how it is practised. In our examination of conceptualisation, we found nine essential features of reablement, the most predominant being the wish to improve the functionality of clients so they can continue to live in their own homes. Of course, we found variability in policy and geographic contexts, but we were not perturbed by this. Rather, we found the under-representation of social connectivity for clients to be regrettable. We constructed a typology of four theoretical types of reablement to help us reflect on the current state of research and practice, and we tentatively offer this for the consideration of the research, practice and policy communities.