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Physios are contributing to 'positive work' that helps people with frailty to live in or near homes
Physiotherapists are playing a key role in community health services that are delivering innovative care for people with frailty in England, a new report shows.
One of the services highlighted in a report published yesterday (12 March) is the seven-days-a-week intermediate care team that is run jointly by Walsall Healthcare NHS Trust and Walsall Adult Social Care. The national report was prepared by the Community Network that is hosted by the NHS Confederation and NHS Providers.
The Walsall-based team, which includes nurses, social workers, occupational therapists as well as physios, has a remit to give patients and their relatives – or carer if they have one – a short period of intensive support so that they can leave hospital once their health has improved sufficiently.
Walsall Healthcare NHS Trust states: ‘The team offers support to help the patient regain independence. This could be at home, or in a short-stay care home bed, in the best way to meet their needs. It is often after a period of crisis, ill health, disability, or at a time when they may have lost some confidence.’
More than one older person in three in England lives with some form of frailty, leaving them vulnerable to dramatic, sudden changes in health that can triggered by seemingly small events.
With half of hospital inpatients aged over 65 being affected by frailty, community providers are central to achieving national ambitions to support more people with frailty to live well at, or closer to, home, the report suggests.
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