Rehabilitation

Rehabilitation is offered by the Allied Health Professions Team (AHPs)

The AHPs aim to provide the opportunity to improve quality of life by:

• working towards a personal goal
• minimising the effects of disease or its treatment
• helping people to maintain independence
• helping people get relief from any distressing symptoms
• providing rehabilitation, education and advice in order to maximise and maintain physical independence for as long as possible

Our expert team works closely with other St Christopher’s staff in order to co-ordinate support and care in a safe and effective way. Referrals come from a number of sources, including GPs, hospitals, members of the hospice multi-professional team and in some cases from patients themselves.

Physiotherapy and Occupational Therapy

The main focus for our physiotherapists and occupational therapists is helping patients achieve their personal goals in order to maximise quality of life and maintain function and independence wherever possible. After an initial assessment, patients will usually be offered one of the following services:

Rehabilitation Gym

Outpatients will usually be offered a supervised and personalised 6-9 week program at one of our well-equipped rehabilitation gyms at the Sydenham or Orpington site, during which goals and progress will be reviewed and exercises adapted to build confidence and activity. Patients may be given a personalised exercise program to do at home at the same time.

Inpatients at the Sydenham site will have access to the gym, and this will usually involve a personalised exercise program supervised by a physiotherapist or assistant.

Exercise at home films

If you would like to exercise at home we have created a series of films showing you some exercises that you can do lying down, sitting and standing up.

View our video on The Gym at St Christopher’s below, which may be useful for patients and families/carers to watch.

Breathlessness Management Service (BMS)

Breathlessness can be a frightening and restrictive symptom that many people with life limiting illness experience. We help people to understand this symptom and teach strategies to cope with it better. The course, run at the Sydenham site, is for patients and their carers and consists of:

• An individual assessment with a therapist (30mins)
• Three small group sessions (Thursdays 12-1pm) giving you skills and tips to cope with your breathlessness
• An individual review with a therapist (30 mins)

(Please note, for patients attending Bromley site, individual sessions are available)

Breathlessness films

We have also developed a set of films designed to give people advice and information about managing breathlessness.

Managing your breathlessness booklet

StChris_Managing_your_breathlessness_booklet Breathlessness Management (PDF)

The Living Well at Home Team

The Living Well at Home Team help patients work towards their personal goals in their own home, if they are unable to access St Christopher’s Outpatients at either site. This might be around improving mobility, coping with breathlessness or fatigue, or enabling someone to manage activities of daily living better. The process once someone has been referred is:

• Initial assessment done by a member of the Rehab team to set rehab goals and develop a rehab plan
• A volunteer is matched and will visit for 6-8 sessions to work on the rehab plan together
• A review is completed to assess progress and if goals have been achieved

StChris_Living_Well_at_Home_leaflet Living Well at Home leaflet (PDF)

Please watch the following video to find out more about this service:

Home Environment

For Inpatients – Occupational Therapists can advise and assist with rearranging or adapting the home environment so that it’s more suitable for a patient’s needs. They can also offer practice runs to trial an activity or a particular piece of equipment before going home.

Dietitian and Speech and Language Therapy

Input from a Dietitian and a Speech and Language therapist at St Christopher’s is also available for patients on the Inpatient Unit or by appointment in Outpatients. Specialist advice and intervention can be provided for people where appropriate. Referrals are made via a member of the multi-professional team at St Christopher’s.