Reablement care helps people maintain or regain the necessary skills to live independently at home (1). It is an intense, goal-focused service, often delivered by social care workers under the guidance of health professionals. The Social Services and Well-being (Wales) Act 2014 (2) requires local authorities to provide these services.
This short report from the Networked Data Lab (NDL) Wales looks at whether combining local authority data with healthcare records can help us understand more about the people who accessed reablement care.
NDL Wales is a partnership between Public Health Wales, Digital Health and Care Wales, Swansea University, and Social Care Wales. It is one of five analytical teams funded by the Health Foundation to investigate issues in health and care services (3).
For this research, NDL Wales worked with the local authorities of Bridgend and Rhondda Cynon Taf, linking reablement data with health records. All data analysis took place in the SAIL (Secure Anonymised Information Linkage) Databank’s Trusted Research Environment (TRE) (4, 5, 6). The researchers also created a group of individuals with similar characteristics (age, sex, deprivation, and location) to compare with those accessing reablement care. This approach helped identify demographics and health status differences for those accessing reablement services.
Key findings
- The structure and organisation of reablement care services differed between local authorities.
- Most people accessing reablement care were older, mostly female, and in poorer health than those who did not use the service.
- Referrals to reablement care varied by local authority. Community referrals were the most common source of reablement care across all age groups. However, the proportion of community referrals decreased with age while the proportion of hospital referrals increased.
- Most reablement care packages successfully avoid the need for a long-term care plan.
Conclusion
This study shows that it is possible to link local authority data with anonymised health records to understand better who is accessing reablement care in Wales. As seen in the data from StatsWales, most reablement care packages did not lead to a need for long-term care, suggesting that reablement has a positive effect.
However, differences in data systems and how information is recorded by local authorities in Wales make it challenging to understand the outcomes fully. If local authorities adopted common data definitions, collection, and recording standards, getting more detailed insights into health outcomes would be easier.
This use of data would help services focus on those most in need, support people to maintain their independence and evaluate new care models to drive health and social care innovation.