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Patients at Addenbrooke’s Hospital, Cambridge are the first in the country to have exercise classes broadcast straight to their bedside.

A 45-minute video exercise programme has been developed to help patients maintain muscle strength, avoid deep vein thrombosis and other complications associated with being immobile.

Duncan Forsyth, consultant geriatrician at Addenbrooke’s came up with the innovation while on a long-haul flight with his family. Whilst watching the in-flight video demonstrating exercises for the neck, shoulders and legs, it occurred to Duncan that providing a simple exercise routine direct to the patient bedside, that could be viewed free of charge, might possibly help reduce muscle deconditioning, venous thromboembolic disease, chest infections, and perhaps lead to a quicker recovery by improving the patient’s general sense of well-being. There might also be additional benefits in helping maintain muscle strength and in reducing in-hospital falls. Duncan enlisted the help of Caroline Stoneham, a senior physiotherapist at Addenbrooke’s, to develop a set of bed and chair based exercises that would be reasonable to recommend to any adult in-patient. The exercises are designed so that they can be carried out by anyone, although staff do ensure that patients are working within their means and also advise if any exercises are inappropriate, e.g. shoulder exercises after shoulder joint reconstructive surgery! The video includes routines to help breathing, and exercises for legs, arms, neck, feet,
and hands.

Before making the video, Caroline and Duncan undertook a pilot to determine the acceptability of the concept and the actual exercises across a range of medical and surgical wards in Addenbrooke’s, and included old and young adults. They were pleased with the enthusiasm with which patients greeted the project. The video was made in-house by Addenbrooke’s Medical Photography Department and will be aired on a loop throughout each day, allowing patients to exercise at their leisure. Each set of exercises has a voice-over introduction, whilst the exercise is demonstrated on the video, to explain the exercise and how many times to do them. Patients are also offered a printed handout of the exercises by ward staff.

The project, funded by Addenbrooke’s Charitable Trust, was officially launched on Wednesday 19 November 2008. Duncan and Caroline hope that other hospitals might consider adopting their exercise programme. Anyone wishing further information about the video exercise programme should contact Duncan Forsyth through the email facility at the top of this page.

As a postscript, we should report that while at first, Duncan declared that he would NOT be releasing any pictures of himself wearing lycra, he has now relented and will be available, on request for private viewings, wearing lycra. He assures readers that full resuscitation facilities for those of delicate sensibilities will be on standby.

BGS Newsletter, March 2009
Issue 20 ISSN 1748-6343 20