Connect Health has delivered community physiotherapy services in Camden since 2010. From 2018 we have been part of a partnership called Camden MSK working in close collaboration with the Royal Free Hospital (RFH), University College London Hospital (UCLH), Central and North West London NHS Trust and InHealth, to deliver musculoskeletal (MSK) services to the Camden community.
Challenges in Camden prior to the new approach
- Around one in seven (14%) of Camden residents have a long-term health condition or disability that limits their day-to-day-activities in some way.
- More than a third (34%) of Camden’s population are from Black, Asian and other communities.
- The overall prevalence of MSK in Camden has risen steadily with 46% of people living with a MSK condition.
The Solution
Connect Health Camden women’s only exercise class runs every Thursday at the Kentish Town Leisure Centre. The aim was to move healthcare out of hospital and clinics, into healthy community spaces. The goal is for patients to be confident to continue to exercise as they wish, at home, their own gym, or community exercise classes.
Community development
There is a clear demand for women’s only exercise classes, which restarted in January 2022, after being paused due to Covid. We are reaching out to community groups, such as Bengali Worker’s Association Women’s Service and the plan is to extend this out over the next few months.
Patient feedback suggested significant numbers of women did not want to come to mixed gender classes, so by doing this session – led by therapists of the same gender – we have opened up access and provided a route into physical activity.
Rory Twogood, Team Lead, Connect Health
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