swimming pool image

Life Leisure, a leisure and recreation centre based in Barrow, North West England, is looking for participants with joint problems to take part in a virtual physiotherapy swimming pilot.

The physiotherapy programme, called Good Boost, utilises therapeutic and rehabilitative water-based exercises to help people with long-term joint problems, such as arthritis. Participants are given a waterproof tablet and guided through a series of exercises tailored to their individual needs in the swimming pool, supervised by a member of staff from the leisure centre.

This latest programme builds on Life Leisure’s commitment to make its pool more accessible, with the centre recently installing a ‘Pool Pod’ submersible lift.

Michelle Childs, Health Development Manager at Life Leisure, told The Mail: “Aquatic activities provide a fantastic way to help people become more active and improve their health, especially those with musculoskeletal and joint conditions.

“By installing the Pool Pod and teaming up with Good Boost we hope to reach even more people who would benefit from supported exercise.”

In order to secure future funding for the Good Boost kit, Life Leisure is looking for volunteers with joint problems to take part in a pilot scheme.

Good Boost is a social enterprise that aims to transform public pools into health and wellbeing hubs that deliver locally accessible and affordable aquatic rehabilitation.

Ben Wilkins, CEO of Good Boost, commented: “Published medical research highlights the benefits of therapeutic aquatic exercise and rehabilitation for a wide range of joint and pain conditions, including osteoarthritis (arthritis), rheumatoid arthritis, non-specific pain and improving physical function.

“Good Boost’s artificial intelligence powered software selects the most suitable exercises for a participant’s condition, need, function and swimming ability (10% of Good Boost participants are non-swimmers, you don’t need to swim to join in!).

“This is our first Cumbrian pool and we are really excited to work with Life Leisure and the team at Barrow to improve participants’ pain, physical function and quality of life throughout 2020.”

AT TODAY UPDATES
Over 7,000 healthcare professionals stay informed about the latest assistive technology with AT Today. Do you?
We respect your privacy