Rapid Rehabilitation and Reablement

Are you a senior who needs help regaining your independence after an injury or illness?

Rapid Rehabilitation and Reablement services provide intensive, short-term care, as well as equipment and supplies, to help restore seniors’ independence so they can remain safely at home following a hospital admission or illness or injury that impaired daily living.

• Rehabilitation services help seniors maximize recovery after illness or injury.
• Reablement services help seniors learn or relearn the skills necessary to adapt to living independently and to carry out daily activities while living with impairment.

Services are provided in the senior’s home or, in the case of more intensive needs, temporarily in a special care home. Rapid Rehabilitation and Reablement takes a coordinated, client- and family-centred approach that includes the senior and their “circle of care” of formal and informal caregivers. It values respect for and partnership with the senior receiving services. The care team may include:

• doctors
• nurses
• home support providers
• Extra-Mural Program staff
• Social Development staff
• registered dietitians
• rehab assistants

This approach is meant for seniors whose health needs are expected to improve with short-term, intensive care, including:

1. Seniors in the hospital who no longer require acute medical care with a diagnosis of:

• Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD)
• Congestive heart failure (CHF)
• Diabetes
• Mild/moderate stroke
• Transient ischemic attack (TIA)
• Fall, musculoskeletal injuries, fractures

2. Seniors at home who are at risk of hospital admission.
3. Seniors at home who have been diagnosed with dementia.

Every senior’s care needs and supports are unique. Rapid Rehabilitation and Reablement services are individualized and delivered in a quick, seamless, integrated, and intensive way to provide better patient outcomes. This approach:

• promotes faster recovery from illness and minimizes disability,
• enables timely discharge from hospital,
• enables independent living at home,
• promotes better health and social outcomes, and
• prevents or delays unnecessary and more costly forms of care.

Rapid Rehabilitation and Reablement has three options of care:

1. Those who need help learning skills to adapt to living with an impairment will receive intensive short-term services called “reablement”;
2. Those who need more intensive care at home to recover after an illness or injury receive intensive short-term care called “rehabilitation”;
3. Those who need more intensive care and a high level of personal support, not available in-home, will receive short-term intensive “rehabilitation” in a special care home before returning home.

At the end of the Rapid Rehabilitation and Reablement services, an assessment is done. Seniors still needing Extra-Mural services will receive either supportive/maintenance or standard rehabilitative care. Seniors needing ongoing home supports are assessed by Social Development for services under the of the Long Term Care Program.

Who qualifies?

Seniors must meet the general Extra-Mural Program eligibility criteria. To learn more about this home healthcare program, including eligibility and how to apply, click here.

Seniors in hospitals who may benefit from this service will be screened for a referral to the Extra-Mural Program (EMP). Seniors living at home are usually identified by a physician or social worker as a potential candidate and are referred to EMP.

If you believe you or a senior you know may benefit from these or other Extra Mural services, call the Extra-Mural Program Care Coordination Centre toll free number 1-844-982-7367. Forms can be printed and faxed to 506-872-6601 or can be emailed to EMPCC@Medavienb.ca. 

There is no fee for Rapid Rehabilitation and Reablement services.

You qualify for the Extra-Mural Program if:

• You are a New Brunswick resident;
• You have a valid NB Medicare Card, or you are getting one;
• You have a healthcare need that the Extra-Mural Program can help with;
• You have a need that requires healthcare resources at home (a private home, nursing home or special care home);
• You have a home that is safe for the service to be provided;
• You have a wish and willingness to receive services.