First week: Part 2

Overall thoughts from week 1

I think week 1 was a success. I'm glad to have had the opportunity to visit local leisure centres and to take part in group activities with SfC. The team has been very welcoming and I can see how the OT’s and coaches make sure that everybody is included.

As a physio student, I know how important exercise is for physical health (1), and I like the fact that the range of SfC sessions offers something for everyone. The exercise classes range from seated activities such as boxing practice and boccia, to more dynamic activities such as basketball and volleyball. There is no expectation that the participants have to be at a certain standard, but they are all encouraged to take part. As well as the obvious benefits of physical activity, I can see how the classes give the participants confidence in terms of social skills, taking turns, following instructions and leading others.

Physios and SfC

I’ve been thinking about how physios could contribute to SfC. When we had the 1-on-1 gym session with the lady who has muscular dystrophy, I think we did offer a different perspective to her treatment plan, as we were able to identify specific movement patterns. From there, we suggested some exercises that would be helpful to her.  

If SfC was to employ physios, it would have to offer something different to standard outpatient physio. If a SfC participant has a specific MSK problem as well as an underlying condition (e.g. communication difficulties or MS, for example), then they could be assessed by a physio at an SfC session, and then be referred to MSK physio. Another potential benefit of physios is that we can observe gait and movement patterns of individual participants, and we could recommend specific adjustments or exercises that might help (of course, just because somebody has an ‘unusual’ gait pattern, it doesn’t mean that it needs to be corrected.)

I'm sure I'll come up with more thoughts over the next few weeks!

Looking ahead to week 2

Next week, Gab and I are planning to visit local leisure centres again. We’re going back to Chelmsford for a day next week. This will be good because we can continue to build up a rapport with the participants, carers and staff. Some people were already beginning to open up with us last week, so it will be good to see them again.

We’re looking forward to working with Alana, who’s starting her physio placement with us this week. She will be doing her placement virtually, so this will be a challenge and an opportunity for all of us. I’ll need to make sure we stay in regular contact with Alana and keep her fully in the loop. We’re arranging online chats with OT’s, including Tom who analyses the data. The data tells SfC about the demographic make-up of the participants – it will be interesting to find out if any population groups are over- or under-represented compared to the general population. Gab and I are also planning to visit the local climbing gyms so we can make a start on our project.

References

(1) Nystoriak MA, Bhatnagar A. Cardiovascular Effects and Benefits of Exercise. Front Cardiovasc Med. 2018 Sep 28;5:135. doi: 10.3389/fcvm.2018.00135