Pactster offers free exercise therapy to better lives of people with cystic fibrosis

Oct 3 2017

New CF Trust partnership reflects Pactster’s commitment to bettering the lives of people with Cystic Fibrosis

Pactster, a company providing community-based online workouts for people with specific health conditions, is excited to announce a new partnership with the Cystic Fibrosis Trust in the UK. The partnership enables people in the UK with cystic fibrosis, their carers and their physiotherapists to access Pactster’s specialist, potentially life-improving workouts for free.

Although Pactster offers community support and exercise videos for a variety of health conditions, for people with cystic fibrosis (CF) the platform is particularly significant. For those suffering with the life-threatening condition, exercise is important to help clear the thick, sticky mucus that traps bacteria in the lungs and makes it difficult to breathe.

However, because people with CF are never able to meet face-to-face due to the dangerous risk of cross-infection, they are not able to exercise with other people who understand their needs and share their fitness goals.

“This is why we introduced online communities to our platform”, said Pactster co-founder and cystic fibrosis specialist physiotherapist, Pamela Scarborough. “We know that cystic fibrosis can be an isolating condition and that finding motivation to exercise can be tough some days, especially with the burden of other treatments. So, we help people with CF to support and motivate one another and we enable them to join online workouts together to improve exercise adherence.”

Online workout videos on Pactster are lead by CF physiotherapists and specialist fitness instructors and can be viewed whenever and wherever the user feels most comfortable. Users can also schedule times to follow these videos with a ‘buddy’ via video chat, or join scheduled workouts as part of a Pactster community.

Paul Rymer, Head of Principal Involvement at the Cystic Fibrosis Trust, said,

Pactster is a fantastic resource for people with cystic fibrosis because it offers a way to start being active together, free of the risk of cross-infection, and with the knowledge that the videos have been well thought-through and CF considered. It is also great to see several people with CF as presenters, showing what is possible, offering inspiration but also a level of understanding of the needs of the audience that would not be possible for other trainers.

Partnering with Pactster has enabled the Trust to support the development of a range of high quality resources that can help everyone with cystic fibrosis to stay active and take control of their physical health and wellbeing.

Pactster is constantly adding new videos to the platform. With a new set of workouts set to appear this autumn, the team at Pactster are currently on a search for physiotherapists and fitness instructors who specialize in Cystic Fibrosis to feature in them. If you know someone who would be perfect for the job, get in touch with the team via the Pactster website.