Who our service is for
We offer programmes for:children and young people (6 months to 16 years) with, or at risk of hemiplegia (movement difficulties on one side of the body) where their hand or arm movement impacts what they need or would like to do in their daily life activities. This might be due to cerebral palsy, or an acquired brain injury (such as stroke).
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Children and young people who reside in the southern boroughs of London, Kent, Surrey and Sussex are eligible for a consultation and advice appointment only, or for consideration of an intensive rehabilitation programme. For children and young people outside of these areas we can offer one off consultation and advice appointments, which we encourage local therapists to attend.
- Our programmes are typically six weeks long.
- The programmes are intense. You and your child need to feel motivated and be able to take part in a programme that can disrupt family routines. At your first appointment, we will discuss the demands of the programme for you, as parents delivering the therapy, and for your child. For a programme concentrating on arm and hand function, children will need to sit at a table for the play-based activities.
- Ideally, the local occupational therapy or physiotherapy service is able to:
a) come to a single, joint goal-setting appointment at our hospital (either face-to-face or virtually)
and
b) provide weekly sessions in the child’s local area for the duration of the six week programme.
We will decide if an intensive programme is suitable for your child by discussing this with you, your child and local therapy teams. We will complete a detailed assessment of your child.
Types of rehabilitation
Our treatments (shown to be effective in research studies) include:
Individualised programme, for children aged 6 months to 16 years, with particular focus on how a child uses their arms and hands in every day activities:
- bimanual therapy
- a hybrid approach (modified constraint-induced movement therapy with bimanual therapy)
- goal-directed training.
If you are interested to read more about research around the specific interventions we offer, please get in touch with us and we can send you details.
We decide on the frequency of sessions before children start our programmes. All assessments are documented, and findings are shared with you and relevant professionals. Assessments also take place after the programme has ended.
All programmes are a combination of face-to-face appointments at the hospital plus virtual (on screen) appointments to support you at home.
Local therapists, partnering with us, will arrange their appointments directly with you. They are also welcome to attend any sessions we deliver, and we keep in touch throughout the programme.
What happens after an intervention programme
As a specialist service, our aim is to offer support, consultation and advice to supplement your local service, who are responsible for your child’s therapy. Therefore, we do not offer routine ongoing reviews.
Typically your child is reviewed after the programme ends and then discharged.