Hosted by Keep Able, this extraordinary webinar was tailored for in-home aged care providers and stakeholders within the aged care sector. We had an amazing lineup of distinguished speakers and presenters who are all at the forefront of innovation and expertise in wellness and reablement.
You can review the recordings of the event below, whether you missed it on the day, or just want to experience the presentations again.
The Why of Reablement
In this session, Hilary O’Connell - Principal Advisor for Healthy Ageing and Reablement - breaks down the fundamental purpose behind adopting a reablement approach in aged care. Drawing on her extensive experience in restorative care and wellness‑focused practice, Hilary explains how reablement shifts the mindset from “doing for” to “working with” older people to build confidence, capacity, and independence.
Reablement and Support at Home
Nick Morgan explores how reablement principles can be effectively applied within Support at Home services to improve outcomes for older people. He explains how reablement strengthens a person’s ability to remain active, confident, and independent by embedding goal‑oriented, capacity‑building practices into everyday support.
What's age got to do with it?
In this insightful session from the Forum, Joanna Maxwell challenges common assumptions about ageing, and invites viewers to rethink what age truly means in the context of capability, identity, and participation. Speaking as a respected leader in ageing policy and social change, Joanna explores how age-related stereotypes - both societal and self‑imposed - shrink opportunities for older people and shape the way support workers and services operate.
Reablement from a provider perspective
In this session, Angie Slater offers a grounded, practical look at reablement through the lens of a service provider. Drawing on her extensive experience in community aged care, Angie explores what it truly takes for organisations to embed reablement into everyday service delivery - not as an add‑on, but as a core philosophy that shapes culture, workflows, and client interactions.
She highlights the real-world challenges providers face, including workforce training, time pressures, and long‑standing task‑focused routines. Angie demonstrates how shifting to a “work with, not for” approach can transform client outcomes, strengthen independence, and create more meaningful relationships between workers and the older people they support.
Throughout the presentation, she shares practical examples from provider settings, illustrating how small changes in practice can lead to significant gains in confidence, mobility, and engagement for clients. Her message is clear: reablement is most effective when providers lead the cultural shift - empowering staff, aligning processes, and ensuring every interaction supports capacity-building.
This video is especially valuable for managers, coordinators, and frontline teams looking to understand what reablement looks like operationally, and how providers can champion the shift toward independence-focused support.
Reablement from an assessor perspective
Alison provides a clear and practical look at reablement through the eyes of an assessor - the crucial “front door” to a successful reablement journey. She explains how assessors play a pivotal role in identifying each client’s goals, strengths, and capabilities right from the first interaction, setting the tone for a capacity‑building approach rather than a task‑focused one.
Alison highlights how effective reablement begins with deep listening, meaningful conversation, and understanding what matters most to the older person. She walks through real-world examples that show how small adjustments in assessment style - from the questions asked to the language used - can uncover opportunities for independence that might otherwise be missed.
She also discusses the importance of collaboration between assessors, support workers, and providers to ensure consistency across the client’s entire experience. By focusing on achievable goals and empowering clients to participate actively in their own routines, Alison demonstrates how assessors can spark motivation, build confidence, and lay the foundation for sustained reablement success.
This video is particularly valuable for RAS, ACAT, and CHSP assessors, as well as team leaders looking to strengthen the alignment between assessment, support planning, and reablement outcomes.
Reablement from the consumer perspective
In this insightful session, Patricia Sparrow brings a strong consumer‑advocacy lens to the topic of reablement, exploring what genuinely matters to older people when engaging with aged‑care services. Drawing on her deep experience in national aged‑care policy, human rights, and consumer representation, Pat challenges the sector to look beyond service delivery mechanics and focus instead on what older people value, want, and need to live well.
Everything you do for me, you take from me
In this engaging and thought‑provoking presentation, Kirsten explores one of the most powerful principles underpinning reablement: the idea that when we step in and do tasks for people, we unintentionally take away opportunities for them to build confidence, maintain skills, and stay independent. Drawing on the well‑known Montessori concept—“Everything you do for me; you take from me”-Kirsten illustrates how everyday activities carry enormous physical, cognitive, social, and emotional value for older adults.