ACTIVITY FEATURE
Safely increasing social interaction and physical activity during a pandemic
Kirsty Thomas , Tanya Stewart-Rawle and Jeff Williams share an example of adapting occupational therapy groups during COVID-19
Humans are very social creatures and have an innate need to engage in activity ; the COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in individuals self-isolating from others , which can have a huge impact on mental health , but also occupational deprivation .
Working on an acute mental health inpatient unit , we were eager to look at creative and innovative ways of combating isolation and occupational deprivation . We also wanted to look at ways of linking current patients with the community mental health team to reduce barriers to engagement on discharge .
Taking the pandemic restrictions into consideration , and after carrying out risk assessments , we decided to trial an outdoors ‘ Couch to 5K ’ group * in the local community , with the aim of safely increasing social interaction and physical activity .
The group was facilitated by occupational therapy staff from both acute and community teams .
We faced a number of challenges during the time the group ran , including the local lockdown forcing the group to split , into inpatient and community , the patient population , as 85 per cent of patients who were invited and engaged in the group had a diagnosis of a chronic mental health condition , a high turnover of patients being discharged , as well as poor weather conditions .
However , despite these factors , the results were fairly encouraging . Overall , almost half of those who were invited to the group attended the sessions ( 43 per cent ). Of those who attended , almost all ( 95 per cent ) said that their mood had improved after the activity , while an even higher number of those taking part ( 98 per cent ) said that they valued the social interaction they were able to gain from attending . Individuals also reported a positive impact on their sleep .
While the group had initially been set up as a ‘ Couch to 5K ’ group , and despite carrying out physical readiness questionnaires to ensure that all invitees were suitable for the group , the physical abilities of the people who attended were quite diverse and a number of adaptations had to be made .
However , the occupational therapy staff had the skills to recognise and facilitate these modifications ; for example , during one session , staff altered the group to enable the attendance of some patients who were less able – they walked while still engaging in physical activity – while also facilitating a highly fit individual to run five miles .
The group also successfully achieved the aim of encouraging inpatients to continue engaging with the community mental health team when discharged ; with two out of three people continuing to attend the group after their discharge from hospital .
The goal of the national programme ‘ Making Every Contact Count ( Public Health Network Cymru ) ( https :// mecc . publichealthnetwork . cymru / files / 4814 / 8785 / 0021 / Level _ 1 _ Booklet _ MECC . pdf ) was achieved , with 44 separate contacts with service users prompting physical activity , which might never have happened had the group not been established .
People were at different stages of behaviour change and required different information , which occupational therapy staff were able to provide .
In summary , co-facilitation between the community and inpatient occupational therapy services has shown that occupational therapy staff are skilled in adapting their approaches to delivering health promotion information and intervention , which is more effective at supporting longer-term positive change in the physical and mental health needs of service users in secondary mental health services . Moving forward , further groups that combine both acute and community services are being considered and when the pandemic restrictions ease other groups , which include ‘ managing and understanding your own recovery ’ and ‘ discharge planning ’, will aim to support a patient ’ s journey from inpatient to community services .
Kirsty Thomas , occupational therapist , Tanya Stewart-Rawle , assistant Practitioner , and Jeff Williams , occupational therapy technician , Bryngofal Ward and Swyn Y Gwynt Occupational therapy service project . * The groups ran from September to November 2020 . For further information on the NHS ‘ Couch to 5K ’ programme visit : www . nhs . uk / live-well / exercise / couch-to-5k-week-byweek /
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