Maintaining Olivia’s fitness after education

Olivia has a severe learning disability, very low muscle tone and loose ligaments throughout her body.  She needs to wear splints and supportive boots and uses a walking frame and a manual wheelchair. At National Star (placement funded by Warwickshire County Council), Olivia, thanks to the physiotherapy team, became more active. In the five years at college, Olivia lost five stone and developed a love of exercise.

It was critical for Olivia to maintain her fitness and build her strength because without this the impact on Olivia’s health, and her emotional well-being would be very much impacted later in life. The first challenge was to find physical activities that Olivia enjoyed. By trying different equipment, Olivia discovered a love of swimming. The real hit was the trike. She loves the freedom – and the speed! 

The next challenge was to ensure a fitness programme was in place when Olivia left college so that there was continuity, something that is critical for Olivia. She needed access to a swimming pool, a gym which accepted Universal Credit memberships and had equipment she could use. She also needed access to a specialist trike and people trained to support her.

Olivia’s mother was proactive in engaging with the local learning disabilities team. She also located to a local Nuffield gym that would accept Universal Credit memberships. The physiotherapists from National Star and the learning disability nursing team worked together to share information and guidelines about Olivia’s programme at college. 

The learning disability nursing team’s physiotherapist then did an assessment of the Nuffield gym and developed a new fitness plan for Olivia. She also ensured that the team from Olivia’s supported living were trained to support her.

National Star’s physiotherapist supported Olivia’s mum to source a trike and successfully apply for a grant to purchase it. 

Warwickshire County Council provided additional social care funding to enable Olivia to have two to one support when using her specialist trike, swimming and the gym.

Olivia is happier and more independent. Olivia became more confident and was motivated to exercise. She used her walking frame more and depended less on staff pushing her in a manual wheelchair. Olivia, who has limited speech, told her mother that she was “proud” of her achievements. By maintaining her fitness levels, she can live in supported housing with stairs. By taking a preventative approach, it is hoped that Olivia’s condition will not deteriorate and thus saves on further health spending. 

To maintain this fitness post college, National Star worked with Olivia’s mother, the Transitions Team at Warwickshire County Council and the Coventry and Warwickshire Partnership NHS Trust.

Olivia regularly accesses a local gym and has her own specialist trike. She has trained staff to support her and continues to maintain her weight and fitness in the community.

Her mother continues to monitor the programme with the support of the local learning disability nursing team.

Strong transitions to maintain health and fitness can be achieved when organisations work together, plan in advance, and take a tailored approach that best supports the individual so that they can reach their own potential and maintain health predominantly something that an able bodied person can do themselves. In Olivia’s case she needed others to have the forward thinking to make this happen for her due to her severe learning disabilities and lack of mental capacity. It also demonstrates the importance of the family to drive the transition. It was very much a case of mum doing her research and engaging with the relevant local organisations.

Marianne Sweet, [email protected]