Denbighshire County Council is changing its homecare service to a reablement service, in response to feedback that people in the county want to stay independent and in their own homes for longer.
Social Services will introduce the new reablement service, initially in the St Asaph and Denbigh areas, from January onwards. Current long-term home care service users in these areas will then receive care from partners in the independent sector, with support from Social Services.
The reablement service will replace the current local authority Homecare Service, which means that staff are being re-trained to provide support to older people and those with disabilities, to help them regain and maintain as much independence as possible. Denbighshire is amongst the first Welsh authorities to take on board this Welsh Assembly Government initiative.
The aim of reablement is to help people to regain skills and confidence so that they can be as independent as possible.
Eventually, all new referrals to Social Services will be assessed to see whether service users would benefit from receiving short-term reablement services.
Councillor Pauline Dobb, Lead Member for Health, Social Care and Well-Being, added: “Introducing the new reablement service is a very positive move for Denbighshire.
“More and more people are telling us that they wish they could just get that bit of support to help them get their confidence back, or get used to carrying out household tasks again, rather than having someone do these things for them.
“This service is going to mean that a lot more people are able to stay at home for longer, and can lead fuller, more independent lives.”
