Canoeing Ireland and the National Rehabilitation Hospital in Dublin have announced a new joint collaborative initiative with the inclusion of kayaking as a rehabilitation exercise in the new state-of-the-art aquatic physiotherapy pool at the NRH.
Having put a particular emphasis on Equality, Diversity and Inclusion in the past number of years, Canoeing Ireland are extremely excited to open up the world of Paddlesports to the patients of the NRH and are committed to working towards creating a culture of equity and inclusivity by ensuring the sport is accessible to as many people as possible.
The NRH Aquatics Physiotherapy Department actively collaborates with external sporting organisations to provide opportunities for people of all abilities to participate in sports that they may have been involved in prior to their admission to the NRH, or have been exposed to for the first time during their rehabilitation programme.
“We are incredibly proud of this latest step in ensuring as many people as possible have an equal opportunity to participate in Paddlesports. We are looking forward to welcoming many new members to the Paddlesports community from first participating in the NRH and then hopefully moving on to a continued engagement with the sport,” said Canoeing Ireland CEO Moira Aston.
“The Aquatics Physiotherapy team in the NRH have met us with enthusiasm at every step of the planning and preparations, and welcomed us into their facilities,” added Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Manager Emer Carton.
“Our teams have collaborated to make this as positive an experience as possible for the patients. It has been incredibly rewarding so far seeing the positive reactions from patients who have participated in the programme so far and look forward to welcoming more people into our Paddlesports community.”
“Sports activities are hugely beneficial for people as part of their rehabilitation programme – from the physical activity and general wellbeing aspect to the social side of sport and getting to meet people with similar interests,” said Head of Physiotherapy at the NRH, Rosie Kelly.
“At the NRH we are focused on patients’ abilities, and trying new activities that they may continue after leaving the NRH. We look forward to working with Canoeing Ireland and developing paddlesports opportunities for our patients in our new world class facilities.”
The programme was enabled through support from the Dormant Account Fund.of the Dormant Account Fund and the Canoe Centre.
