25 Feb 2025
Aftercare wellbeing event supports patients and families
When the EAAA Aftercare team wanted to explore a new way to support patients and families, they reached out to the charity’s Aftercare volunteers for ideas. The result was a wellbeing event in January called ‘Beat the Blues’ at Helimed House, EAAA’s Norwich headquarters.
East Anglian Air Ambulance’s (EAAA) Aftercare team offers practical and emotional support to former patients and their families in the turbulent aftermath of a life-changing incident. The specialist team of Aftercare clinicians is now supported by dedicated aftercare volunteers, meaning EAAA can do even more to offer support to patients, families and bystanders at medical emergencies attended by EAAA crews. In 2024, 472 people connected with the Aftercare service.
Around one in three adults in England report having experienced at least one traumatic event (source: The Mental Health Foundation). This includes the kinds of medical emergencies, such as road traffic collisions and cardiac arrests, to which EAAA are tasked. Not everybody attended by our crews will need support after their incident, but we want to ensure that those who feel they would benefit from practical and emotional help feel able to reach out and gain support in a way which suits them best.
Aftercare Clinical Liaison Lead, Natalie Ashley, says, “A January wellbeing event was suggested as a way we could further engage with patients and families, but also as a way they could connect with each other for peer support.”
The team reached out to patients and families who had recently been in touch with EAAA’s Aftercare service. Complementary therapists kindly gave their time and skills for free to support the event, which took place on the evening of Tuesday 28 January. It was also supported by some of the new team of Aftercare volunteers.
The evening offered a programme of yoga sessions. The flexibility of The Hub (the meeting and events space at Helimed House) meant that areas could be sectioned off for different activities. EAAA’s immersive training suite was used for a sound bath with grounding noises provided for deep relaxation.
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There were also sessions of Bowen Therapy for stress and pain, reflexology, facials, and hand and arm massages.
Jan, a relative of a former EAAA patient, said, “Thank you for the event I attended last night alongside my sister-in-law. It was a lovely evening, and everyone was so friendly and supportive. The therapies that were offered were fabulous.”
Sue was one of the volunteers who helped ensure the evening ran smoothly. She said,
“It was great to see such positive interactions between former patients, staff and volunteers, and it was a privilege to be with everyone!”
Rachel Cross from Calm in the City, who facilitated the sound bath sessions, said, “It was a privilege to be asked to facilitate some mini sound sessions for EAAA Winter Wellbeing event. To be entrusted with the care of patients and families who have received services from EAAA was an honour as I am aware of the probable traumatic circumstances that have led people to need the charity’s services. To witness the care and dedication of the staff and volunteers and how invested they are in their work was incredible to see and it really shows how deeply they care – so to be a tiny part of that was honour indeed.”
Natalie Ashley adds, “The evening was really well-received and was a great chance for people to share stories and forge connections with each other. We are so grateful to everyone who supported the evening and who attended. We hope to offer similar sessions for former EAAA patients and families again in the future.”