Donate2Motivate

Empowering Patients Through Compassionate Care

Welcome to Donate2Motivate, where we turn everyday acts of kindness into tangible recovery pathways for patients. Inspired by touching real-life experiences, we address the issue of deconditioning and the subsequent challenges it brings to patient recovery. Through the simple but meaningful act of donating clothing, toiletries, or fun activities (think puzzle books, word searches, crosswords etc), we hope to dismantle the barriers created by hospital gowns, and inspire patients to reclaim their strength and dignity. Explore our anonymised Patient Stories, a testament to the profound impact of personal care on health outcomes. Together, let's promote comfort, encourage mobility, and celebrate the human spirit in healthcare. Begin your journey with us today.

What is deconditioning?

Deconditioning (noun, medical): the process of losing physical strength through being ill, injured, or not active.

Deconditioning is a complex change that occurs in a patient's body following long periods of inactivity or bed rest. This affects a patient's physical and mental health and ultimately results in functional decline, prolonged hospital admissions and increased mortality.

Why does this matter in the context of donating clothing? Long periods of time in bed wearing a hospital gown reinforces learned helplessness and the sick role. Providing patients with comfortable, warm clothes during their admission could motivate them to get up out of bed and mobilise.

Our story

Our story was inspired by an elderly patient who had a huge impact on our hearts. He had a diagnosis of Parkinson's disease - a progressive condition that affects the brain causing involuntary tremors, poor mobility, depression, and memory problems. He had no living family members and no friends.

As a result, he was provided with a basic NHS toothbrush, comb and hospital gown but did not have any clothes of his own. This gentleman remained an inpatient for a few months, initially to treat an acute medical condition followed by intensive rehabilitation goals for the symptoms of his Parkinson's disease. Unfortunately, despite regular attempts, our specialty physiotherapy colleagues were struggling to motivate him to sit out of bed and complete the necessary exercises.

Following a length conversation, he told Gaby that the reason he did not want to get out of bed was due to embarrassment and lack of comfort in a hospital gown exposed at the back. This broke our hearts and Gaby ran to the shopping centre to buy him pyjamas, slippers, and a dressing gown. Over the following days, his spirits lifted, and he began getting out of bed with the physiotherapy team and engaging in basic grooming for the first time in months. Shortly after this he was discharged. Sadly, this gentleman passed away since discharge and this has been a huge drive for us to create this donation project as a legacy in his memory.

Resources

A treasure trove of comprehensive materials designed to inform and guide staff, trusts, and patients. Here, you will find a range of workbooks, posters, and informational packs that offer practical insights and actionable strategies to support our cause. Dive in to enrich your understanding, equip yourself with essential tools, and join us in empowering patients towards a better recovery journey.

Patient stories

To preserve the dignity and privacy of these individuals, the stories shared here are anonymised. These narratives illustrate how even the smallest acts of kindness, such as providing comfortable clothing, can foster significant improvements in patients' moods, motivation, and willingness to engage in vital therapeutic activities. These stories validate our efforts and fuel our commitment to expand and deepen this initiative's impact.

Keeghan

Keeghan is the patient that catalysed the Donate2Motivate movement and remains very close to our hearts.

Keeghan is the patient that catalysed the Donate2Motivate movement and remains very close to our hearts. He did not have any living friends or family to bring in clothes or pyjamas and consequently he had to wear a hospital gown every day throughout his four-month admission. He was very low in mood and refused to get out of bed, stating that he did not want to carry out his physiotherapy activities in an open back hospital gown. Gaby went to the shopping centre and bought him pyjamas, a dressing gown, and basic toiletries. The following day he had a shower, shaved his beard, and engaged with the physiotherapy team. Sometimes barriers to discharge are simple things that make a patient feel more like their normal self!

Oliver

Oliver was an elderly gentleman admitted on a medical ward receiving treatment for a community acquired pneumonia.

Oliver was an elderly gentleman admitted on a medical ward receiving treatment for a community acquired pneumonia. His period of illness had caused an acute decline in his mobility and functional state, and he was referred to the inpatient physiotherapy team. Initially, he declined to engage with their services. Following a conversation with Oliver to ascertain his reasons for declining physiotherapy, he informed us that he was cold in his t-shirt and trousers and did not want to remove the blankets to get out of bed. Providing a jumper to this gentleman could motivate him to get out of bed and get him back to his own home faster!

Heather

Heather was an elderly patient admitted to the hospital due to a fall in a residential home.

Heather was an elderly patient admitted to the hospital due to a fall in a residential home. Out in the community she was known as a smart individual who took pride in her appearance. Following the fall, Heather required input from the therapies teams to improve her mobility and muscle strength. She was quite resistant to this idea, not wanting to walk around the ward in hospital attire. Provision of clothing and toiletries for this patient could have assisted her to feel human and closer to her natural baseline outside of the hospital environment. Small things such as having a shower and getting dressed make all the difference in recovery!

Events & Talks

Fundamentals of Nursing Care - Pressure Ulcers

07/06/2023

Dr Gabrielle Titley-WIlson will be presenting as a guest speaker, discussing what Donate2Motivate is and how it can be integrated into the Fundamentals of Nursing Care programmes at Liverpool University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.

Donate2Motivate Day - LUHFT PJ Day

30/06/2023

We are hosting a pyjama day on 30th June across Liverpool University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust to raise awareness of our campaign and #EndPJParalysis! Put on your pyjamas for work and donate £1 to Donate2Motivate and help combat patient de-conditioning! All wards will receive a pack from our team with information for patients, patient activity handbooks and balloons!

End PJ Paralysis: Global Summit

12/07/2023 - 13/07/2023

UPDATE: Watch the recording of our talk here

Our founders, Dr Gabrielle Titley-Wilson & Dr Chloe Ward, will be speaking at the End PJ Paralysis Global Summit in July 2023. Presenting on the topic of deconditioning and our initiative Donate2Motivate.

From the EndPJParalysis website:

"The Global Summit is the biggest annual event of the #EndPJparalysis movement. It runs live for 36 hours – ensuring it really is globally accessible - and attendance is free to any health, social and care professionals as well as students and educationalists. After the live event, content is available online through the endpjparalysis.org web portal."

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