In October 2018 Hand to Heal visited the office of the Future Generations Commissioner for Wales in Cardiff.  The office organised reflexology as part of their staff wellbeing initiative. 

A total of 8 members of staff attended the first reflexology session.  An evaluation was undertaken to decide whether sessions would continue, which they did.   All the staff who attended said they felt mentally relaxed after the reflexology session and all said they would recommend reflexology to their colleagues.   75% thought the session had helped them focus and would improve their work performance during the remainder of the day.

The short report can be downloaded here.

Hand to Heal is grateful to the Future Generations Commissioner for the opportunity to visit the office and provide reflexology to staff there.   If you would like to book me for your workplace please email jane@handtoheal.com  

Hand to Heal on location in a Cardiff workplace

Between February and August 2019 reflexology was given to a small number of carers as part of a project supporting their mental health and wellbeing.  Set up by Platfform, at their Cardiff counselling centre Breathe, each carer completed a course of several reflexology sessions with Hand to Heal.  At the start of the project they gave a score to their current well-being and said what they hoped reflexology could help with. When the project ended we asked the carers to say how they thought reflexology had benefited them.

All seven carers reported an improvement in how they felt at the end of the project compared to at the start.    Six out of seven thought they were managing better being a carer thanks to reflexology. The carers also said how much they valued the time reflexology afforded them for relaxation and to regain perspective.

“I am so grateful for the opportunity this therapy has given me -  I feel renewed”

“I now feel less anxious and am able to cope with the difficulties I have to face as a carer”

A more detailed project evaluation report can be downloaded here.

Hand to Heal is grateful to Breathe for including reflexology as one element of the project they delivered supporting carers in 2019.

An account of when reflexology was available for asylum seekers at CHAP

Between June 2017 and January 2018 reflexology was given to a small number of asylum seekers in Cardiff who were referred by staff at the Cardiff Health Access Project (CHAP) service.   The reflexology offer was set up on a wholly voluntary basis,  initially whilst I was training as a reflexologist and continuing when I qualified.  Sixteen patients received sessions over the course of 8 months totaling 78 hours of reflexology.

After a series of sessions all those who attended rated a small improvement in their wellbeing.

A record of the service can be downloaded here.

“Case Study
AA (not her real initials) is a 32 year old Nigerian woman seeking asylum in the UK having been subject to trafficking and sexual violence. When first referred for reflexology she was severely depressed and was on the verge of being prescribed anti-psychotic drugs. In June 2017 AA rated her wellbeing as 6 (“as bad as it could be”). She rarely slept more than a couple of hours at a time because she would experience flash-backs when she did doze off so she preferred not to sleep. As a result of this she found it difficult to focus and concentrate or conduct any kind of normal routine.
During the first reflexology session AA was attentive and interested in what was going on. She said it felt unusual but she would continue for more sessions as she sensed it could help her. From the 2nd session onwards AA would fall in to deep and relaxed sleep within 10 minutes of the treatment starting. She also reported sleeping through the full night after each treatment and gradually this increased so that her sleep in general improved significantly. She had rated lack of sleep as 6 “bothers me greatly” at the start of reflexology and after 6 weekly sessions rated sleep as 3. She said that the night after reflexology a night sleep’s would feel like a year’s sleep, it was so restorative.
AA further reported that reflexology had given her hope as she could finally relax and therefore her concentration improved. She began to engage in other activities and enrolled on a course of part-time study at Cardiff University.
Her GP noticed the changes in AA and noted in her medical file notes how reflexology has benefitted her health and removed the need for anti-psychotic medication.
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