The EAGER project

SPRU research team

• Bryony Beresford
• Chunhua Chen

External collaborators

• Dr Phillip Whitehead, Newcastle University
• Dr Lisa Dibsdall, Wiltshire Council
• Ewan King, Social Care Institute of Excellence (SCIE)

Background

Reablement is a core strand of the UK government’s intermediate care strategy. The purpose of reablement is to pre-empt or reduce demand for social care (including moving to residential care) by enabling people to live as independently as possible in their own homes. Increasing frailty or discharge from hospital are key reasons for referring an older person for reablement.

A key barrier to someone benefitting from reablement is a poor understanding of it and what it is trying to achieve. Families’ understanding and/or support for reablement may also affect progress, and whether achievements are maintained after discharge.

Study aims

The EAGER project will create and field test a resource (or toolkit) for use by localities which:

• enables them to identify critical points on their referral/care pathways where attention needs to be paid to ensuring older people and their families understand and engage with reablement.
• provides evidence-informed guidance on how to address or prevent poor understanding or engagement, and support good understanding of, and engagement with, reablement.