This year we need to raise more than £70,000 to fund our hydrotherapy service at the Kent MS Therapy Centre for people living with MS. Hydrotherapy is our most expensive therapy to operate due to the staff to member ratio within the pool environment. It is however a priority area because of improvements reported by members.
Hydrotherapy benefits those with MS by providing pain relief, improved mobility, smoother more controlled movement, balance and co-ordination improvement, strengthened muscles, and a reduction in swelling, all whilst giving service users a sense of well-being. As the therapy takes place in warm water, this treatment allows members' muscles to relax and ease any pain on their joints. The water aids buoyancy which in turn supports weight and resistance leading to an increase in muscular strength.
The sessions cost the Centre £40 an hour and the most popular are individual ones where the member to staff ratio is 1:2. Members who use wheelchairs must have individual sessions due to health and safety regulations. Generally members come to the Centre once a week for hydrotherapy and on average 36 people have a hydrotherapy session weekly.
There are no other dedicated MS Therapy Centres in Kent offering hydrotherapy hence why demand for this service is so high, and why it is absolutely crucial that we secure the sufficient funding for our members.