Keep Able Reablement Podcasts
Keep Able is your go to authority on Wellness and Reablement. Our various podcasts cover discussions on real world issues and examples from people in the at home aged care support sector, specifically for CHSP providers.
Keep Able Reablement Podcasts
Exercise Physiology in Reablement Practice (P1)
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With Danielle from Feros Care - Exercise Physiology – important factors that make goals of a physical nature part of reablement and both building clients' capacity and engaging them in activity. Using a person-led approach.
Discover more reablement resources at keepable.com.au
Hello everybody and welcome to this episode of the Reablement Podcast, where Keep Able are talking to a range of people who have experience with using reablement and we were going to discuss how it can be incorporated into your service and why it works. I'm Alison Vella from Keep Able. In this episode, I'm going to be talking to Danielle, who is an exercise physiologist from Ferros Care here on the Gold Coast. Danielle has 20 years of experience in healthcare with her first 10 years being in the private sector, followed by the last 10 years in aged care organisations and working in the community. She's the Allied Health Mentor and she'll tell us more about her current role. So Danielle, welcome and thanks for being here. Hi Alison, thanks for having me. So we'd love to hear a little bit more about your actual role at the moment.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, absolutely. So working in the Ferros Care Allied Health team, we've got about 40 professionals in that team, consisting of exercise physiologists, physiotherapists, occupational therapists, and we're now actually bringing on some nutritionists. And we've got a manager for that team, and I support the manager as the Allied Health Mentor who really mentors and supports the team of professionals, helping them with their caseloads, helping them with any professional development and learning to help improve their capability and their skills in their role, and really just overseeing the team and ensuring that everybody's not only practicing at a high quality and standard and professionalism, but also really enjoying their job and their career in Allied Health.
SPEAKER_00How exciting that the team is growing and you're getting more professionals, more allied health professional work types into the group as well.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, it's amazing. The team has really grown a lot in the last couple of years. So having been in the team for 10 years, when I first started, there was only one other physiotherapist and one exercise physiologist. So three of us. And then it slowly grew in the first five years, but I would say in the last sort of five to or three to five years, it's really grown grown a lot. So it's amazing, yeah.
SPEAKER_00So can you explain for us, Danielle, what exercise physiology is and how it's applied when working with older people?
SPEAKER_01That's a great question, Alison. I very often get asked, what's the difference between an exercise physiologist and a physiotherapist? And there are many things that we do that are very similar, but to keep it really simple, what I tend to say is a physiotherapist will be very specific in the treatment that they do for different injuries and musculoskeletal conditions in the body. And often they're assessing exactly what's going on for someone in their body, and they will either do a combination of treatment like manual therapy as well as some rehabilitation exercises and a program. Whereas an exercise physiologist, usually when the client comes to us, they have a diagnosis already and a program or prescription often given by a physiotherapist, and we will follow through with that program or prescription. Or we do actually focus a lot on other sort of health conditions as well, so chronic illness and chronic disease, and really looking at what type of exercise programs and rehabilitation programs can support somebody to stay strong in their body or restore their physical capacity and strength. And basically, for where I'm working in community healthcare, it's keeping people safe and in their homes as well.
SPEAKER_00It all sounds just like the perfect recipe for reablement goals for the clients.
SPEAKER_01Absolutely. Yeah, that there's definitely the focus on supporting the person to maximize their health and their well-being, not just physically but also mentally and basically looking at everything as a whole, the the whole person and how we can help improve their life, their quality of life at home. Fantastic.
SPEAKER_00What do the client goals look like when you start out with them?
SPEAKER_01Yeah, that's a great question. The client goals really vary so much from person to person. So you know, a great therapist will really develop a really strong relationship with the client and help to identify exactly what they need to support their health and well-being. So for one person, it could be something really as simple as they want to be able to get in and out of a car more easily because you know they go in the car quite frequently and it's difficult and uncomfortable or painful. So they could have a simple goal like that, like I just like a simple functional goal, you know, want to be able to do this more easily, and we work with that. Um, other people, it can be more of a holistic lifestyle type of goal, like um they want to keep active, they want to be able to keep out in the garden, gardening, or looking after themselves, um, or being able to go out with their friends and extended family and traveling still, like so people have a goal that may address many areas of their life. So often, you know, how we address that goal will require a few different approaches.
SPEAKER_00So it sounds like um sort of you might be addressing one small thing, but you're really looking at that in the scheme of the big picture. Exactly.
SPEAKER_01So it might seem like a very simple program, but it can have a very huge influence on their whole life.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. Yeah. And that's that's what I love most about reablement, actually. The the little things make the biggest difference in a lot of people's lives. So, what steps do you take with them in the process of them achieving their goals?
SPEAKER_01For me, it's really important that the person has a relationship with that goal. So they need to understand, you know, why am I doing this and you know, what type of impact can it have on my overall life? So it becomes really important for them. And then when it's once it's important for them, they can more easily tap into that commitment to do the work that's needed to actually achieve that goal. And then they understand why they're doing the activity, why they're doing the work, and can stick at it and then bit by bit start to see changes. So it's really once the goal is identified and that um commitment to doing it, then together we work out well, what type of exercises or what specific program do you need to achieve this goal? And I really explain each of the activities that they're doing and the why they're doing it. So, what is that benefit? You know, how can you feel this in your body? So really um empowering them and giving them the understanding of what they're doing and why. And then to from there, they're more empowered in their exercise program. It's not just me who's given it to them and them who is doing it, hoping that it's going to have a certain outcome. So they've got that really individual relationship with what it is that they're working on.
SPEAKER_00The importance really of what's their motivator, what is what is it that means something to them? And then it will feel less like doing work. Absolutely.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, it doesn't become like a tick box activity of another thing that they should be doing. Like I think it's like that for all of us, really, with when it comes to exercise. It shouldn't be a tick box, it can be something that we actually really enjoy doing. Exactly, yeah.
SPEAKER_00What barriers do you experience when trying to apply reable with clients or with your other team members as well? Sort of as you said, you're you're mentoring the rest of the Allied Health team. What sort of barriers might you face in a typical week or month?
SPEAKER_01I think one of the biggest barriers is that really that commitment to doing the exercise or to doing the work, doing what's needed to bring the change. So, you know, as I said, it's really helping that person to connect to the benefits and long-term how it's going to really help them. And then, you know, working with them to address any of the little barriers that come up along the way. And that can be simple things like just feeling challenged because you can't do something. So then you break it down into small steps, like really basic steps, like something that they can nearly achieve, and we work on it until they can, and then you go to another step. So you have like little steps along along the way with small achievements, and then you start to the client will start to feel really joyful that they're actually starting to see changes in their body, they're starting to achieve things, and then just make those little steps like big milestones, really, and realizing that something as simple as changing the height of your chair down one lower notch to be able to then get out of that level is actually quite a significant change in leg leg strength to be able to do that.
SPEAKER_00And it's all about self-achievement too, isn't it? Sort of that self-satisfaction in being able to achieve something too. Absolutely. What I love too about I guess all of the allied health fields when it comes to reablement is we sort of talk both about prevention as well as rebuilding capacity or maintaining the capacity of the person. Have you got any specific examples of where where you've worked on reablement with a client?
SPEAKER_01Alison, a great example that comes to mind is a client that I worked with for about eight years. And when I first um saw him, he had had Parkinson's, I think, for already about eight years, and he was living out on a large property, and he really loved to maintain the property. It was really important for him to look after his property. So part of that was a couple of paddocks full of grass that he had to slash on a tractor initially, and then um as his capacity started to change, he went to a ride-on mower. But what was really important in our program was just maintaining his capacity as much as we could for as long as we could, so that he could have that purpose and that focus on what was important for him to be able to maintain his property, and it may seem very simple, and some people may have said, you know, you should be resting, you don't need to be doing that. Why don't we pay somebody else to do your grass for you? But it was really important for him to have that purpose and that focus. He'd get up every morning at sunrise the same way he did when he was a lot younger, and everything took him a lot longer, but it was just having that goal and that focus and the purpose in the day that really maintained his quality of life. Yeah.
SPEAKER_00Is there specific questions or anything you ask when you first meet someone or do an initial assessment that sort of helps you to identify real woman opportunities?
SPEAKER_01Yeah, the simplest thing that I usually ask is Is there anything that you used to be able to do easily that you can now either no longer do at all or it's very difficult to do? And would you like to be able to continue doing that, or would you like to be able to do that again? So, and then I go down to very specifics, like make it very simple things like, is it difficult for you to get out of the chair, or do you need help getting in and out of the car, or is it difficult for you to dress, or do you struggle standing at the bench for a long period of time to prepare something? Or um, is it difficult to go and watch your grandchildren play soccer or whatever it is? And and then we work on looking at well, how can we improve your physical capacity and your strength and your endurance to make that easy easier for you again?
SPEAKER_00What would you tell anyone working with clients in aged care about the importance of empowering them and working with reablement goals?
SPEAKER_01Firstly, something that I share with my whole team really is that if you really feel how powerful it is to empower somebody in their life, then it really brings great purpose to your role as an allied health professional or a career or whatever it is that you're doing in the industry. Like if you make that very personal connection with someone and realize that you can actually impact and change their whole life, like the whole end of their life, and improve their whole quality of life with something really simple if you make that that connection with the client to start off with and really bring the purpose to their program. So something you might actually empower somebody in something that they've struggled with for a really long time, because sometimes some of the barriers are not only just physical, they can be cultural or um emotional or mental mental challenges, like something that a lack of confidence or a lack of worth, or um, they were never allowed to do that, or you know, they were never asked to do that, or they're never shown how to do that, or it just wasn't expected of their gender for them to do that. And you can actually really transform somebody's life and bring great changes on lots of different levels, not just physically. And I think once you actually really connect to that, you feel your purpose in your day, and it you know, you realize what you're actually sharing as an allied health professional or a clinician, whatever clinician or care worker, like it applies to all of us, you know, we can really transform people's lives. Yeah.
SPEAKER_00I love that you mentioned a couple of things there. The first one is it it's powerful for the staff member as well, the the aged care worker as well, you know, being able to empower someone. I've found over the years it really gives it a great deal of job satisfaction.
SPEAKER_01Definitely, yeah. Like it makes you really enjoy your job when you realize how much you're impacting people's lives. Yeah.
SPEAKER_00And the other part of that that I really liked when you said it's for everybody. You know, we talk to a lot of people, you know, from the intake offices, uh, your support workers on the ground, your nurses even at the hospitals, etc., and the allied health professionals. So it's not reablement doesn't always need to fall on the allied health team. It can sit with other people as well.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, absolutely. I think it is a very team thing. Like if everybody has that approach, we all work together to help support the client. Like it does actually involve everyone. Like you can't have the Allied Health team really focusing on reablement and then somebody in the call center not really connecting with that, and instead, like just trying to get everything done for the person. So it's like we all work together, like everything from somebody being discharged from hospital, like the nurses who discharge, and you know, the services that they then send them to. And it's like we're we're all together working as a team to support the client.
SPEAKER_00Are there any particular resources or anything that you've come across or um have used that have been really helpful to you in your role?
SPEAKER_01There there's a so much resources across the internet. I will say that because I I have worked in a learning and development role as well. And, you know, part of that role in the past was really about developing courses and developing programs and, you know, e-learning or podcasts or meetings or you know, whatever. But recently working in that role, I realized that there wasn't really a need to develop anything new because there's just so much available on the internet. You know, there there really is. Um if you're really interested in learning about something, you don't even have to sign up for an expensive course. You can actually go out there and find what resources are out there. And then it's about finding the quality resources as well, like somebody who's not only going to be giving you the accurate information, but also up-to-date information. So obviously, you know, to get the most accurate and up-to-date information, it's to look at university-approved courses or government websites. You know, obviously we've got Keep Able is an amazing website with plenty of resources when it comes to reablement, but there's also a lot of others out there I can't think of any off the top of my head. But if you if you're interested, you just look and you'll find them.
SPEAKER_00What would you tell somebody who is maybe considering a career in aged care, whether it's a career change or someone coming out of school?
SPEAKER_01Working in aged care is very rewarding because you can really transform somebody's life at the end of their life, you know, and change basically their whole outlook on life. You know, it's it's a really great way to motivate people at the end of their life and to enjoy enjoy life and stay engaged in life. It's really important um as we age to stay very engaged, you know, and if you're working in age care, you can help people to remain engaged in life. Yeah.
SPEAKER_00Are there any particular resources on the Keep Able site that you have found that you've gone back to a few times or used a lot?
SPEAKER_01Yeah, at the moment I would say I'm really enjoying the videos on the Keepable website. I think they've only come up recently, but I have re-watched some of those videos. There's some really key points in there working either as an allied health worker or a care worker or anyone working in aged care. There's a couple of um great examples of just really simple ways that you can support people. So I've really enjoyed that. I have looked at some of the e-learning as well. I think there's a great variety available there, and you can look at what type of topic you're interested in and just do a really simple, quick 10-minute e-learning on a topic to learn more about it. So yeah.
SPEAKER_00Can you give us any examples of client feedback that you've received after you've put them through a bit of a reablement program?
SPEAKER_01Absolutely. And you know, the type of feedback that you can get when somebody's been through a reablement program and, you know, achieve their goals, a lot of people will sometimes say, wow, you've totally transformed my life. You know, it seems like a really big statement, but for them that's exactly how they feel. They're like, oh, you know, I can finally do this again, or it's it's so amazing that I can get up and get myself up and ready. I don't have to wait for somebody to come in and get me out of bed, and I just I feel like myself again. And, you know, those type of comments are really common, like people just more motivated to get up in their day and and be part of their day and be part of life. So it's it's very rewarding.
SPEAKER_00So thank you, Danielle. We hope this discussion has been valuable for our listeners. We encourage people to visit our website at keepable.com.au to use our resources on wellness and reablement. Thanks, Alison. Thanks for having me.
