Gentle Movement and Activity Volunteer

at  East Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust

This is a new and developing volunteer role aiming to support patients not losing their mobility whilst in hospital. Elderly patients lose 2-5 % of their muscle strength daily with bed rest in hospital. 10 days bed rest is equivalent to 10 years muscle ageing in the elderly.
There is a big National drive around getting our elderly patients out of bed and moving and within ESHT we have a local drive called eat, sleep move repeat. The focus is on doing what we can to maintain their function in hospital to maximise their quality of life on discharge home to a place of choice.

Gentle Movement and activity Volunteers are essential to helping our elderly patients maintain their strength and function through exercise and cognitive stimulation whilst in hospital. Volunteers will be connecting with patients in our elderly care and medical wards on both the Conquest and Eastbourne sites. The multidisciplinary team will prescribe specific exercises and activities tailored to patients which the volunteers will practise with the individual patient or groups of patients

• Report to ward clerk and liaise with the ward team to gather a list of patients to see each shift.
• Promoting patient safety whilst in hospital through regular movement, cognitive stimulation, nutrition, and hydration.
• Approaching patients and encouraging them to take up Gentle Movement sessions.
• Following a prescribed prone or chair-based exercise programme via 121 bedside sessions. Demonstrating exercises for patients and encouraging them to take part
• Using exercise equipment as indicated by therapy staff e,g. Theraband and small hand weights
• Facilitating suitable activities such as art, music, board games etc as appropriate for patients.

Volunteering with the NHS is an excellent opportunity to help your community and a rewarding way to dedicate your time to a cause you care about.
Volunteering gives a sense of satisfaction gained from helping others;
You can use your own life or work experience and knowledge to support patients and our staff.
You will also meet new people,
learn lots of different skills
gain experience of what it would be like to work in the NHS.
boost your own self-esteem and wellbeing
We train and support our volunteers so they can play a meaningful and valuable role within the trust.
Whatever your reason for wanting to volunteer we’d love to hear from you.
Please see Job Description attached.

Please refer the Job description for details