Frequently Asked
Questions
Allied Motion is a therapy-led service supporting care homes and older adults through virtual exercise sessions, AHP consultancy and triage, weekly activity packs and Allied Therapy . Our goal is to promote movement, wellbeing, and meaningful connection through accessible and professional support.
Our core exercise programme includes a 6 week introduction with gradual progression through to week 18. This is to help establish an overall exercise tolerance baseline. All of our core exercises are chair based and each session includes a gentle warm up and cool down, so there will be something for everyone. For those who have zero active movement, any attempt to engage, including visualising engagement, is beneficial to keep the brain and nerve pathways active.
All our activity packs are for mixed abilities with varying difficulty and a group activity to get everyone involved.
Yes, absolutely! Our core exercises are aimed at those with long term conditions or physical disabilities. In most cases, exercise will help to improve, prevent or slow progression of your condition. There are a few rarities where exercise should be avoided and in these cases you will have likely been advised by your consultant to avoid movement until the condition is well managed or resolved where possible. There are some exercises that may need to be avoided in certain conditions, but these will be clearly highlighted within the programme. You will either be advised to wait or move on to the next exercise or offered an adaptation.
It is not our intention to replace activity co-ordinators but to support them to provide best practice care. Our service works best with an on-site lead member of staff supporting practical delivery. This can be any member of staff, as we will offer them our full support, but could be an Activity Co-ordinator or Assistant. We find this works best as your on-site staff know your residents and operations better than anyone, and so they can consider all aspects of how to implement our programme into your current routines. Our aim is to reduce your activity co-ordinators workload so they can focus on the more labour intensive but enriching activities like accessing the local community. We want to work in collaboration with your staff to ensure our service is the best it can be for you. We value their feedback and insight into your residents individualities so we can try to cater for everyone.
We think it’s brilliant you already have a Physiotherapist and it shows how much you care about your residents. We don’t wish to replace your on-site therapist and you may find our core exercise programmes help to make their work more impactful. In fact, a lot of our schemes own Physiotherapist are who introduced our service into their clients establishment. It helps to reduce their workload which allows them to focus on those who require more 1:1 specialist intervention.
If your Physiotherapist would prefer your clients did not complete our exercise programmes or access our AHP Consultancy, you can still subscribe to our Activity Packs and/or Therapy Dog visits as standalone operations.
Our packages are as bespoke as our service. We understand each care setting is different and pricing will depend on the number of residents and the intensity of our support. This means our offering will vary from a full all inclusive package with AHP Consultancy, Weekly Activity Packs, 24hr Virtual Exercise Library and monthly Allied Dogs visits for every resident, to only one part of our service to a limited number of residents, and everything in between.
However, our mission to be accessible for all, and we believe cost is an important factor to this and so our prices start from just £2/resident per month.
Our AHP Consultancy depends on your subscription level but as a minimum you can refer 10% of your residents each month for a review by an Allied Health Professional. Simply complete the form on your members portal with your residents presenting condition, concerns and PMH, and one of our clinicians will respond with their expert opinion and advice within 2 working days. We can accept referrals from any member of staff, the resident or their relative, with permission from the scheme manager. If the scheme has already exceeded their review allocation for the month then you will be given the choice to defer the referral to the following month when your plan renews, or to pay for an ad-hoc additional slot.
This system is in place to ensure fair allocation of our resources across providers and to prevent abuse of our service.
Our initial 6 weeks introduction to exercise is chair based using only gravity, so all you will need is a device to access the session and a sturdy chair. Weeks 6-18 we introduce resistance which can be with bands, dumbbells or anything you have available including bottled water or tins of beans! For those with poor grip you may also consider alternatives such as wrist weights and we’d be happy to suggest adaptations on an individual basis via our AHP consultancy. As the sessions progress some exercises require seated bike pedals or other portable equipment. The equipment is available to purchase from our online shop, or you are welcome to source it from an alternative supplier or alternative replicate the movement without the weight or equipment.
Likewise, our activity packs will require some commonly available supplies which can also be purchased from our online shop or sourced elsewhere. Essentials include a pen, scissors, glue or tape and colours which could be in any medium such as pencils, paints, pastels, markets etc. There may also be one-off supplies require for certain individual or group activities for example certain ingredients, cocktail shakers or music device. All non-perishables can be purchased from our online shop.
Our AHP Consultancy is a virtual service which allows us to remain accessible, affordable and responsive with a wide reach. We are confident in managing many of the conditions we encounter in care home residents on a remote basis with the support of the service provider’s on site staff. However, we recognise that in some instances face-to-face intervention is absolutely necessary and we can arrange this either on a private basis* or via statutory services. Whichever your preference we are here to guide and support you and can even source your local statutory service and complete the referral* for you if you wish.
*additional fees apply.
To arrange an Allied Dog visit we will require an allocated space of at least 20sqm, preferably outside but this can be inside on days of extreme weather or if preferred. There must also be a separate staff monitored area available for those with allergies, phobias or who simply do not want to engage. Our dogs are all fully trained and temperament assessed for working with vulnerable adults. We will bring equipment such as balls, ball launchers, sticky pads, grooming products and our Metis react system to motivate active movement in all participants, but individuals are also welcome to be spectators if preferred and the space allows. The visit will last around 45minutes depending on the number of residents participating. We can offer one-off visits where available but priority will be given to those on our all inclusive packages, please get in touch if you’d like to arrange a visit or require more information. I’m sorry we are unable to offer these visits to individuals at home. If you are an individual, or if your residents would prefer the session not to have a focus on PT+OT goals, then we suggest contacting a charity such as Therapy Dogs Nationwide or Pets As Therapy who may be able to help.
Certainly! Our exercise programmes and weekly activity packs are suitable for everyone, even our clinicians often complete the puzzles and art activities themselves. We also have non-membership options to purchase our initial core exercise programmes which gives you the flexibility to trial it before committing long term. Subscribed housebound individuals are also welcome to join us for our live sessions and enter our competitions, we want them to feel part of our whole community. Additionally, we would really love to introduce them to other subscribers or scheme residents via our postal, email or telephone befriending service to help reduce social isolation and loneliness. Just get in touch to discuss how we can help.
Yes of course! Simply complete the AHP Consultancy referral as normal and specify your concern and which service you require. Our Physio’s or OT’s will reply within 2 working days but depending on the concern it may be slightly longer for a response from your required profession.
If it is determined that a face to face intervention is necessary, then we can arrange this as with PT or OT visits depending on your preference for statutory or private services.
Take a look at our online shop for our basic aids available to purchase to increase mobility and encourage independence. We are able to make recommendations on a wide range of equipment via our AHP Consultancy. This could be as simple as reviewing a patient with a walking aid via live or pre-recorded video submission and suggesting height adjustments or alternatives, to arranging visits from company reps for specialist equipment* such as seating, postural support and moving and handling systems. Or of course we can help you to refer* to statutory services if preferred.
*additional fees apply.
Yes of course! We have built many strong connections with all types of AHPs throughout our careers. Simply complete the AHP Consultancy referral as normal and specify your concern and which service you require. Our Physio’s or OT’s will reply within 2 working days but depending on the concern it may be slightly longer for a response from your required profession.
If it is determined that a face to face intervention is necessary, then we can arrange this as with PT or OT visits depending on your preference for statutory or private services..
To help you decide if our service is for you, we are able to offer a free example activity pack and access to an introductory exercise session. We can also provide a non-identifiable example of an AHP consultancy report. Please just get in touch via email quoting free sample with your name and address to request this.
Please just get in touch via the online form or email hello@alliedmotion.co.uk and we will be happy to assist you.