The Rehabilitation Team aims to assist you with any functional difficulties and teaches techniques to help you maintain your independence.
Support is provided in your own home or in the Hospice. Outpatients will normally be seen in Shornells (our Day Care facility) but home visits can be arranged if necessary.
The help and care you can expect from the service includes:
- Assisting you to obtain the best quality of life possible at whatever stage of your illness by providing you with physical, social and emotional opportunities, and a sense of control
- Offer a holistic, patient centred approach, reassessing your needs and that of your family and carers
- Provide rehabilitation
- Advise you on how to reduce breathlessness and anxiety using breathing exercises and relaxation techniques
- Facilitate your safe and timely discharge from our Inpatient Unit.
The Team will also:
- Provide a comprehensive assessment of your needs
- Support your rehabilitation to help you carry out daily activities
- Prescribe and provide equipment
- Assess your home to look at challenges that may restrict your independence
- Work alongside your family and carers to help support them while you are at home
- Provide ongoing support and advice
- On your behalf liaise with, and if necessary refer you to the appropriate community agencies.
Equipment used in Rehabilitation
- Assess your needs and prescribe and provide you with the necessary equipment to help facilitate your independence which may be from something as simple as a walking aid or some adapted cutlery, to complex equipment to make sitting in a wheelchair more comfortable for you. The Team may recommend and arrange adaptations to your home e.g. by adding stair rails, rails in the bathroom or ramps to allow wheelchair accessibility.
- Continue to work alongside your family and carers to ensure they are fully aware of your needs.
For an informal discussion on this service call 020 8320 5784.
Referrals can be made by any healthcare professional. Click here to download a referral form.
In some of our services, a range of Complementary Therapies are available. All are complementary to orthodox medicine and are not alternative therapies and are provided by qualified volunteers. They include:
- Massage to sooth sore, aching muscles and limbs, to leave you feeling relaxed
- Indian Head Massage performed over clothes and aims to promote feelings of relaxation
- Shiatsu which uses the body's energy centre and aims to relieve tension and promote relaxation and feelings of wellbeing
- Guided Visualisation, a technique to assist the imagination, to promote feelings of relaxation and a sense of wellbeing
- Reflexology which is a therapy used to promote relaxation.
- Therapeutic Touch Therapy aims to induce a state of restfulness and calmness, relaxing the mind and body.
Other complementary therapies are practiced at the Hospice but all are subject to the current volunteer therapists' specialties.