Activity Based Rehabilitation (ABR) is evidence-based, underpinned by research and measured by outcomes recognised throughout the speciality of neurorehabilitation.

Our use of ABR is diverse and creative, individualised to the needs of each client, but common in its principles. Exercises and activities are set to a level that is both challenging and intensive, with high repetitions of each task undertaken. Wherever possible, the activities take place outside of the wheelchair, using equipment or physical assistance to work in supported weight-bearing positions. To accommodate a range needs and goals we offer a variety of booking options from single sessions to intensive packages.

ABR is important in the early stages following injury or diagnosis to encourage the maximum functional recovery. It also has an important role to play in the chronic phases of neurological conditions and that is where its true value lies for clients once they have left the care of medical professionals. The risk of developing secondary complications after spinal cord injury, such as pressure sores, contractures, cardiovascular disease and diabetes, is high. To combat these, exercise and movement are vital, but regular gym facilities are often inadequately adapted for wheelchair users or unable to provide the necessary physical assistance for individuals to fully participate. Alongside these factors, it is important to recognise how difficult it is for anyone to train and stay motivated by themselves. ABR in chronic injury allows clients to set health and fitness goals, get out of their wheelchairs to exercise in positions that are beneficial for their health and build strength and endurance that can have knock on benefits to their function even after many years of injury.

Bodyweight-supported anti-gravity systems, standing frames, grip-aids, electrical stimulators, vibrating platforms as well as a whole array of strength and fitness equipment give our staff all of the tools necessary to deliver our services safely and effectively.

This unique protocol was developed by the NeuroRecovery Network (NRN). Using up to 12 channels, it targets many muscles at the same time during a useful movement, using parameters that activate the spinal cord. This, combined with the precise administering of the electrical stimulus, to move the muscle or paralysed limb, excites the central nervous system in such a way it can promote neuroplasticity. WPS is administered as part of active therapy, when the client is completing a movement under their own control. The electrodes are applied to the relevant area being worked and the electrical stimulus is administered while the individual performs an exercise. In this way, the signals start to develop new or strengthen existing pathways in the spinal cord circuitry.

This unique protocol was developed by the NeuroRecovery Network (NRN). It emerged from advances in the understanding that the spinal cord can interpret sensory information below the level of injury and relay signals to generate a motor response. Locomotor Training (LT) works to awaken dormant nerve pathways by repetitively stimulating the muscles and nerves in the lower body and thus retrain the spinal cord to ‘remember’ the pattern of stepping.

Clients will repeatedly practice standing and stepping using body weight support on a treadmill while specially trained therapists move the legs to simulate stepping at a real-world speed. At the same time, sensory information from the legs and trunk is repetitively sent to the spinal cord. The sensory input comes from the actual stepping, from the manual contact of the therapist and from the contact of the sole of the foot on the ground. In this way, the nervous system relearns motor patterns associated with stepping.