Physio team present at King’s Fund conference

Two physiotherapy experts from St Andrew’s were recently invited to share their innovative work with an audience of health professionals, at a conference held by The King’s Fund.

St Andrew’s Head of Physiotherapy, Sam Rigg, and Paula Manning, Highly Specialist Physiotherapist, were invited to speak at the ‘Harnessing the value of allied health professionals’ event on 6 September in London. Sam and Paula shared information about the Charity’s ‘Walk Faster Walk Further’ campaign, which encouraged our mental health patients to get active.

The Walk Faster, Walk Further initiative was developed after considering the charity’s population data, and taking on board public health messages. People being cared for within a secure inpatient environment can often feel unmotivated to get active and have a tendency to put on weight; to buck this trend, the St Andrew’s physio team offer support, guidance and encouragement to get both patients and staff moving.

Sam explained: “We knew through experience that simple messages such as ‘16 laps of the courtyard is a mile’ and ‘walking and talking’ messages had been well received by both patients and staff. Previous St Andrew’s research involving physiotherapy had shown that extra support to encourage exercise on wards was useful in increasing activity levels and participation. The initiative was developed from here. The simplest approach is often the best ; Walk Faster, Walk Further is an initiative that any member of staff can use, needs little risk assessment, has national guidance and recognition and is relatively cost neutral. “

“Sam and I were really honoured to have been asked to speak at this conference, as the Kings Fund is such a prestigious organisation,” explained Paula. “The allied health professional role is currently being highlighted across the 4 countries and we were delighted that our teams work on ‘Walk Faster Walk Further - 10,000 steps a day’ is considered to be an innovative initiative. This initiative continues to be used across the organisation as it develops and evolves over time.”

For further information about The King’s Fund, click here.