Meet Ami Bevis and Emma Imam. The Isabel Hospice dynamic duo, Physiotherapy team. We were able to speak with them both to find out more about them and their experience working at Isabel Hospice. Including what a day in the life looks like for physiotherapy at Isabel Hospice. Spoiler alert: country dancing is involved!
Emma has been a physiotherapist at Isabel Hospice for seven years and Ami joined the team almost two years ago. Having been a physiotherapist for 33 years, Ami trained at St Marys in London and for a long time worked on rehabilitation with children. Emma has previously worked for the NHS in London, specialising in adult intensive care.
Their roles at Isabel Hospice are varied, dynamic, challenging and rewarding all at once. Whilst no two days are ever the same, they both were able to offer some insight into what a day in the life at Isabel Hospice looks like.
They will begin at the In-Patient Unit (IPU) in the morning. Emma said “The work we do with patients in our IPU always varies. We could work with them on fatigue and breathlessness and relaxation to help manage anxiety.
“Physically we will give patients exercises, to help them mobilise and instruction on how to use any equipment they may need. Its very much a case of listening to what the patient’s anxiety may be and what we can offer to help.”
Ami echoes this saying “We work under the banner of rehabilitative palliative care, we strongly believe that even when someone has been given a life limiting diagnosis, there is a lot of life to be lived.
“We work with anybody the unit and particularly patients who have come to IPU for symptom control and are planning to get home again. We can work to support their mobility and improving their life back at home, encouraging the safe use of any equipment that might support them. Or, for example, when patients are nursed in bed, it can affect their patterns of rest. We will support patients in mobilising and recognising day and night-time patterns to improve their sleep and rest.”
Next in the day, Ami and Emma will typically move over to our Living Well with Isabel Community Hub for one-to-one patient consultations and the running and facilitation of our many groups and sessions that we run as part of the Living Well with Isabel Programme.
At the moment, Emma is working on our new Heart Failure reach programme along with our Clinical Nurse Specialist May Pheasant. Emma said “We are the first hospice to do this programme and its going really well. Patients who have experienced heart failure are referred to us for our 12-week programme of exercise, relaxation, and advice. We are doing a combination of face-to-face consultation, phone/video call or patients can come to the Living Well Community Hub if needed.”
Emma also runs our ‘Feel-Good Friday’ virtual access to exercise sessions. She said “this class is great for people that can’t leave their homes, we do adapted tai chi which is amazing for relaxation. For some patients it’s the highlight of their week.”
Ami is currently running our weekly in person exercise group which is open to all abilities. Ami said “we run the group for everybody and focus on muscle strength, balance, and coordination. We start with seated exercise and work our way up, with all participants working at a level they can do. We then incorporate some basic dance steps, it might be country dance, we’ve done Greek dancing, line dancing and even some ballet at the barre! Research is so positive in terms of dance and how excellent it is for brain development. Maintaining pathways in the brain that are responsible for balance and coordination. Usually it just gives us the opportunity enjoy movement and laugh together.”
Ami shared the difference she has seen in people who have taken part in the class. “They walk out with a smile on their face and a new sense of confidence. We are able to measure progress as part of the eight-week lead programme and see if their movement or strength is improving. Frequently people that have been with the Living Well team feel they are now able to go back to doing things in their life they enjoyed and thought they couldn’t do anymore. They’ve regained their confidence again, in social skills as well as physical skills and that’s certainly something that we always strive to give people.”
Both Ami and Emma are so passionate about the care they provide. Ami said “Never underestimate the positive effect of exercise. It is possible no matter what you’re facing or how weak you feel or what’s not working. We can always find a way of helping you to keep moving.”
Emma said “There is so much we are able to offer people with the range of services and groups. It’s about living well with a long-term condition and promoting independence as much as possible. We want to give people the mental and physical strength to achieve their goals, no matter how big or small.”
