Students and physiotherapists at an Essex hospital have teamed up to offer open gym sessions to help patients with neurological conditions.
These sessions are held at Beech ward, St Margaret’s Hospital in Epping and support patients’ rehabilitation.
The sessions are designed for adults aged 18 and over recovering from strokes, brain injuries or living with conditions such as multiple sclerosis or Parkinson’s disease.
They will run on Tuesday mornings and give patients extra time to practise exercises beyond their regular therapy.
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Patients work with MSc Clinical Exercise Physiology students from the University of East London, supervised by physiotherapists from EPUT.
Amanda Hardy, one of the physiotherapists involved, said: "It takes thousands of repetitions of exercises for patients to see improvement after a stroke. Every Tuesday morning the patients can practise what they want to practise in the gym, at their own pace, under supervision."
The gym is equipped with static bikes, parallel bars, resistance bands, steps and Blaze pods to support strength, coordination, balance and reaction time training.
Ms Hardy said: "I find the younger stroke survivors want to spend more time in the gym and some patients have really specific goals. For example, patients with young families may want to be well enough to help their children get ready for school."
The open gym sessions began in late February and aim to build independence, with the goal of enabling patients to return home sooner. They also give students the clinical experience needed to qualify as clinical exercise physiologists, who help patients manage complex health conditions through physical activity.
Ellie Cunningham, a student from Romford, said: "It’s been really good to get the patient contact and interaction that you don’t get at university, and learning how each person is different so we can personalise care to them."
Jack McNamara, senior lecturer and course leader at the University of East London, praised the scheme. He said: "St Margaret’s and EPUT have created something genuinely valuable here, and we are delighted that our students are playing a part in it."
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