What to bring, including what people forget
Medication in original packaging, the imaging, familiar footwear and the walking aid already in use — and a separate list for the companion.
Packing for a rehabilitation stay is not packing for a holiday. A few items make the first week work and a few common choices quietly make it harder.
Medical
All medication in original packaging with a written list of names and doses; the most recent imaging on disc or in digital form; any splint, brace or walking aid currently in use; glasses and hearing aids.
Bring enough medication for the whole stay plus a margin. Equivalents exist locally but names and formulations differ, and a mid-programme substitution is a distraction nobody needs.
Clothing and footwear
Comfortable clothing you can move and sweat in, and non-slip footwear. Do not bring a new pair of shoes for therapy: familiar footwear is safer for gait training, because the way a person walks in a known shoe is the baseline being measured.
Layers matter more than volume. Therapy rooms, pools and corridors are different temperatures and the patient moves between them several times a day.
For the companion
Your own medication and documents, comfortable shoes — you will walk more than you expect — and something to do during therapy sessions, when you are usually not in the room.
A companion staying several weeks needs their own arrangements: meals, rest, and a plan for the hours that are not theirs. Companion exhaustion is common and it affects the patient.
Topic
More in Before your programme
- Which medical records to send, and what to do without themA discharge summary and imaging of the affected area are the minimum. Send what you have — the plan is still written, the estimate is just wider.
- Travelling by stretcher or with a medical escortFor patients who cannot travel seated: airline approval, medical clearance and an escort — and at least two weeks of notice.
