A new dimension of care with hydrotherapy at Martin House

When we were first planning to modernise Martin House, we asked families what their top priorities were. Universally, the top answer we got was a hydrotherapy pool. So from the very beginning, we knew this was something we needed to deliver as part of our £21.9m build project to extend and refurbish the hospice.

The benefits of hydrotherapy

Hydrotherapy uses the properties of water to offer physical benefits, such as reducing pain, relaxing muscles, reducing spasms, improving joint movement and circulation.

It can also help improve water confidence and sensory awareness, and crucially for many of the children and young people who use Martin House, it can encourage independent movement and freedom from equipment. On top of all that, it’s also fun!

This month, we welcomed the first families into our new pool, and it’s been a resounding success, with hydrotherapy sessions available to children and young people when they come for a stay in the hospice.

These specialist, physiotherapist-led sessions allow us to cater to their different needs, abilities and therapeutic requirements.

The pool area also features sensory elements, including a mirror ball, fibre optic lights and projections, which can enhance the hydrotherapy session, in line with the needs of the child or young person.

A new dimension of care

While children and young people may access hydrotherapy through their schools, or from the NHS, at Martin House we can offer something different – the chance for families to get in the water with their child, which they are often unable to do elsewhere.

As one mum said to us: “Even though they do hydrotherapy at school, we’re not there, we don’t see it. We keep hearing about how much they love the water and how great they’re doing, but we don’t see it.”

For many families who use Martin House, it can also be very difficult to take their child to a regular swimming pool, for a variety of reasons.

The water can be too cold, which can exacerbate pain and stiffness, whereas a hydrotherapy pool is warmer – both the air and water are heated to around body temperature, to maximise the benefits of the therapy.

Public pools can be noisy, crowded and the lights too bright – this can be overwhelming but also potentially trigger distressing symptoms.

And the complexity of a child’s needs can make it difficult to manage in a public pool. Many have access lines fitted for delivery of food or medicine, they may need oxygen nearby, have ventilation, or need specialist hoists and handling to get in and out of the water.

All of these issues can make going swimming with their child just too challenging. But when families come to stay at Martin House, we can facilitate parents and siblings to get into the water with their child, or watch from the poolside if they prefer.

It means families can have an experience that most of us take for granted – many for the first time – knowing they have specialist support from our team every step of the way.

For the families who have had the chance to go into the pool with their child, it’s been an amazing, and often emotional, experience. For some, it was being able to hold their child, without all the specialist equipment they usually need; for others, it was seeing all their children together in the pool for the first time.

And it’s been clear from all the smiles and laughter how much the children and young people have enjoyed they hydrotherapy sessions and being in the water with their families too.

In the words of one family: “It feels like we’re VIPs, it’s something extra special we get to do.”