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Improving access to person centred, community-based rehabilitation remains a challenge in dementia care. The Sustainable Personalised Interventions for Cognition, Care and Engagement (SPICE) at Home program is a co-designed, goal directed home based dementia rehabilitation pilot for people with dementia in the Australian Capital Territory. The program addresses a gap in post diagnostic support for people unable to access centre based or group services, aligning with priorities for ageing in place and equitable access to care. SPICE at Home is delivered by allied health assistants (AHAs) working within a multidisciplinary team and guided by occupational therapists and physiotherapists within a health service. This practice report presents implementation learnings from the one-year pilot, focusing on workforce capability, clinical governance, and sustainable service delivery in community aged care. Four key implementation learnings were identified. First, structured pre implementation training combining evidence-based dementia rehabilitation approaches with ongoing supervision supported AHA confidence and adaptive practice. Second, integration of the lead researcher (also a clinical nurse consultant) into routine case conferencing improved team cohesion, ownership, and fidelity. Third, prior experience implementing a related program fostered a research informed team culture that enhanced implementation readiness and problem-solving capacity. Finally, while pre-established home visit escalation pathways provided safety and governance scaffolding, their application revealed limitations in responding flexibly to dementia specific clinical situations, highlighting the need for change to risk frameworks. These findings offer transferable lessons for services seeking to embed AHAs within dementia rehabilitation programs, supporting workforce innovation, and deliver sustainable, person centred dementia specific services. Trial outcomes will inform program refinement and guide broader implementation.
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