A NEW student-led physiotherapy clinic at the University of Worcester is working hard to make sure people have a better quality of life.
Based at the university’s McClelland Centre at the city campus, the students help to provide a safe environment for people living with long-term neurological conditions to pursue gentle exercise and activities that help to keep them mobile.
Running two group sessions on a Monday and Wednesday, with private appointments on Tuesday, the clinic is run by students on the Physiotherapy degree, under the careful guidance of well-qualified staff, who are themselves practitioners.
There are currently 20 service users who are living with a range of conditions from strokes, Parkinsons, rare genetic conditions affecting their nervous systems, or as the result of accidents.
Kat Wood, Neuro-Physiotherapist and Physiotherapy lecturer at the University, said:“There is a gap in the provision of on-going, accessible rehabilitation for individuals living with long-term neurological conditions. The student-led physiotherapy service at the McClelland Centre is one approach in helping to address this.
“By helping individuals to self-manage their conditions may have further reaching implications in terms of decreased GP appointments, reliance on medication, and hospital admissions, as well as improved social interactions and psychological well-being.”
Worcester’s MP Robin Walker visited the clinic and was introduced to the concept of Functional Electrical Stimulation, where assistive technologies, using electrical stimulation can help people whose nervous system is no longer able to support their muscles to move.
He said: “The innovative work going on at the University of Worcester is a real model for what works and because it is being conducted in an academic setting where the outcomes are recorded, it will provide a real evidential basis for what might work elsewhere.
“Conditions such as Parkinson’s and Stroke can be debilitating and difficult to live with but more people than ever are living with them for longer.
“By learning from the good work of places like the McClelland Centre and making sure more people are aware of it, we can ensure that more of those people have a better quality of life.”
