me+™ Recovery Programme

me+™ Recovery - helping patients to recover, one step at a time

Research conducted by Convatec in the UK in 2016 and a follow up study in 2018 found that stoma patients generally become less physically active after surgery and live in fear of parastomal hernia or causing themselves harm.

This concerns us for 3 reasons:

• Inactive patients are at risk of other chronic health conditions, such as cardiovascular disease, cancer, obesity, diabetes and increase their risk of depression and anxiety.
• Risk factors for parastomal hernia include muscle weakness and obesity, so patients who become less physically active are likely to increase their risk of parastomal hernia.
• Our research also found that nurses and surgeons do not have the knowledge to advise their patients about physical activity and exercise, so patients are not given this support.

Together we can change this

We developed me+™ Recovery - a patient-centred movement and recovery programme - to guide patients through their recovery after stoma surgery and beyond. The 3 phase recovery programme rebuilds confidence, includes core movements to rehabilitate the abdominal muscles and encourages physical activity.

The programme consists of a host of materials including three phases of recovery handbooks with a progression of gentle movements and a complementary collection of videos.

Patients can access the programme at www.meplus.convatec.co.uk or by calling 0800 467 866 in the UK and 1800 721 721 in RoI.

For nurses and healthcare professionals

We have developed me+™ recovery Specialist Nurse Education Course - a 1 day UK RCN and RoI Bord Altranais accredited and ACPGBI accredited training course to educate and support nurses and healthcare professionals in all aspects of movement, rehabilitation and physical activity following stoma forming surgery. For more information on this course call 0800 467 866 in the UK and 1800 721 721 in RoI.

Our ethos is to encourage and empower people with a stoma to live a happy, active and healthy life

We invite you to think differently about your patients and choose one of the following pledges.

TO HELP REDUCE THE RISK OF PARASTOMAL HERNIA	I’ll talk to every patient about core and abdominal exercises and show them how to do them correctly.
TO REDUCE THE RISK OF OTHER CHRONIC HEALTH CONDITIONS, DEPRESSION & ANXIETY	I’ll talk to my patients about the benefits of being physically active for their health and wellbeing.
TO HELP IMPROVE RECOVERY FROM SURGERY	I’ll encourage my patients to get out of bed, mobilise earlier and become active as soon as they can.
TO IMPROVE CONFIDENCE AND LONG TERM OUTCOMES	I'll use positive language to empower and encourage my patients.