Restorative

What is Restorative support and how can this be applied in home based support services, in real practice?

For many years in home based support services (HBSS) we have been ‘doing for’, rather than ‘doing with’ our home support clients. This has led to many clients deteriorating in their functional ability and many ‘become dependent’ on the ‘system’.

There is no question that as providers HBSS have been responsible for implementing and encouraging this dependency, and as providers we therefore need to take responsibility in reversing this trend for the future benefit of all HBSS clients.

In Timaru in 2007 we first discussed the idea of Restorative support (an inception of AUT – School of Nursing – the “ASPIRE research” Parsons et al, 2007). However this was not the first time a restorative approach has been researched for HBSS. In 2002 Tinnetti et al evaluated the benefits of restorative versus usual care in older adults using HBSS. Their conclusion was replicated in the later ASPIRE research – “Reorganising structure to include goals and ‘doing with’ rather than ‘doing for’ can enhance health outcomes of older persons without increasing the health care allocation”.

At Forward Care we have also found including function as part of service provision is beneficial for all older adults, and as a provider we support the concept and our SWs receive ongoing training in the restorative approach.

S. Morton (R.N Post Grad Dip Otago University – endorsed in gerontology).

Service Manager