22 Mar 2022 Care

Celebrating Complementary Therapy Week

During Complementary Therapy awareness week, we feel it is important to highlight the range of benefits this service can have, not only for our patients, but also for members of our team. The Kirkwood Complementary Therapy team offer non-medical treatments which can complement your care, relieve stress, and promote relaxation and wellbeing.

Complementary therapies are not intended as an alternative to medical treatment but as an additional means of support.

We recently had the chance to catch up with  one of our clinical colleagues, who was eager to shout about the positive impact of receiving complementary therapy and why it is so important not only to our patients but also within the clinical environment.

At the beginning of their employment, employees are made aware of the wellbeing packages available to them and our clinical colleague, who was new to their role at the time had been made aware of complementary therapies at their induction. At the time they assumed it was a bit like a luxury, a perk of the job.

During the early stages of our clinical team members employment with The Kirkwood, they had been juggling the study of a master’s with a hectic workload and they were experiencing shoulder tension, brought on by stress and postural issues. They decided to book in with our Complementary Therapy team to hopefully relieve the pain via massage.

“I was conscious that someone more deserving may need my appointment space and expressed this to Sarah Shaw, Complementary Therapy team leader. She reassured me that the time booked was set aside for use by the team.”

“The Kirkwood is a supportive employer, offering lots of wellbeing initiatives to their employees, and this included complementary therapies. It all fits in with The Kirkwood values.”

The enquiring and booking of our complementary therapy service, works from an internal referral process. The clinical teams will refer a service user to the complementary therapy team, who will then carry out the necessary assessments required to ensure any therapies that are undertaken are safe for the recipient to receive with their current condition.

Following on from the completion of their Masters qualification and subsequent career progression, our clinical team member expressed that they now recommend the therapies available to their team, encouraging them to take up the offer of support. Clinical teams handle a lot of stress and emotions daily, and to remain professional, they need a release and to de-stress so as not to take their work home with them at the end of a shift.

“Having complementary therapies available helps reduce sick leave, maintains retention and promotes a positive impact on the teams feeling valued.”

“Experiencing treatment ourselves also helps us to highlight the potential benefits to our In-Patient families and better offer recommendations.”

Therapies that can be obtained include massage, aromatherapy, reflexology, reiki, beauty, and mindfulness. The benefits range from stress relief to relaxation, both of which promote physical and mental wellbeing. In-Patients and their families who have accessed complementary therapies have found they help with relaxation, thereby reducing anxiety and helping with sleep.
 

How Complementary Therapy Supports patients and their families

When you are a caregiver, family member or close friend of someone living with an illness that they won’t get better from, trying to hold everything down at home, and keep your emotions in check can be mentally exhausting. We offer complementary therapy as a form of relaxation and selfcare to both patients and families on our In-Patient Unit as well as out in the community when possible. Giving patients and those who care for them the opportunity to take a step back from everything and just be in the moment can be a huge tonic, helping them to focus on their selfcare and feel like themselves again.
It can be very difficult for families to allow themselves permission to take time for themselves when their loved one is so ill. Having this service available so they can take an hour to look after themselves can be so important to the wellbeing of the whole family.