Swapping pjs for clothes to help improve mental health | News

Patients at Milford Community Hospital, part of Royal Surrey NHS Foundation Trust, are being encouraged to get dressed and get moving in a bid to improve their social interactions and boost their recovery.  

Staying in a hospital bed for prolonged periods is linked to a physical and mental decline known as deconditioning, which particularly affects patients living with frailty.   

The ‘ EndPJParalysis ’ campaign has been launched to encourage patients to get out of bed and establish a daily routine by putting on normal clothes instead of pyjamas.   

Lynette Nunn, Senior Sister at Milford Hospital, said: “We relaunched this campaign as we realised that since the pandemic, patients were having less social interactions and part of this was due to them becoming institutionalised.   

“We wanted to encourage patient independence and part of this involves getting up, dressed and assisting in their mobility by keeping moving.   

“It helps patients to socialise and feel less lonely, it encourages movement and therefore reduces deconditioning and it makes patients feel like themselves.   

“It gives them some autonomy back to choose what clothes to wear and what to do with their day.”  

It has also allowed patients to get to know each other. Alongside the Tuesday and Thursday lunch clubs, the campaign has made a huge difference in patient interactions.  

Lynette added: “The patients are happier, eat better and feel that they are getting a more personalised approach to care.”   

Senior P hysiotherapist Olu Okunade added: “The idea is simple; wearing pyjamas or a hospital gown, for many patients, reinforces the fact that they are ill, hereby increasing risk of prolonged hospitalisation and assuming a 'sick role'.   

“Getting patients up and dressed rather than remaining in their pyjamas when they do not need to do so reinforces a normal activity, we all do every day.   

“It helps to change the mindset to one where patients are recovering in readiness to go home and back to their usual routine, living as independently as possible, as quickly as possible.”