« Reablement » comme outil thérapeutique pour offrir aux personnes âgées une vie de qualité à domicile après une réadaptation gériatrique

Introduction : Returning home after geriatric rehabilitation is often accompanied by many challenges that threaten the continuity of care and might lead to institutionalisation. As part of the TRANS-SENIOR international training and research network, an intervention is in development to meet these challenges and ensure that older people can remain living at home independently. To develop this intervention, we wanted to gain insight into reablement programs, a promising concept for promoting independent living among older people. Methods : Publications describing reablement programs were included if they reported a community- based program, were tested in a (randomised) controlled trial, provided enough detail on program components, and evaluated effects on participant level. The data extracted are related to program characteristics and components, such as target group, duration, team composition and coordination, intake assessment, goal setting, strategies to achieve these goals, and outcomes assessed. Results : Thirteen programs were identified from six countries, all intended for (I)ADL-impaired community-dwelling older adults. Common features were delivery by a trained and coordinated multidisciplinary team and implementation of an intake assessment and goal-setting tool. The main procedures applied focused on supporting (I)ADL and physical functioning, and improving home safety. Nine programs showed a statistically significant improvement on at least one of the outcome measures. Conclusion : Despite not all favourable results reaching statistical significance, reablement programs seem promising, and have the potential to improve health-related quality of life and reduce health care utilization. Therefore, we used input from these programs for the development of our intervention for people returning home after geriatric rehabilitation.