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Five ways to maintain the bond with friends and family ‘back home’

Moving abroad can be daunting, especially if you’re used to regularly seeing close friends and family. It might not be as easy to drop in for a cup of coffee but with a bit of effort you can maintain and even strengthen your relationships.

Published: 31 January 2019 09:02 CET
Updated: 4 September 2023 15:18 CEST
Five ways to maintain the bond with friends and family 'back home'
Photo credit: Pexels

If you’re planning a long distance move, you’re probably feeling a wave of different emotions. Starting a new life is scary and exciting but it also doesn’t need to mean leaving the old one behind.

Find out how AXA’s Global Health Plans makes your move abroad much easier

Technology helps people to stay in touch despite the distance and can even act as a safety net following the move. For instance, when you take out a global health plan with AXA you can manage your international health insurance online and, with some of the plans, speak to a doctor by video. Anyone who has previously relocated will know how reassuring it can be to speak to a doctor in your own language, especially when you have children.

Perhaps best of all, technology allows you to easily keep in touch with friends and family, wherever you are in the world. So there’s no need to sit down and pen a five-page letter which takes three weeks to arrive!

Here are five ways to stay in touch with friends and family after the big move.

Video calling

There are plenty of apps which allow you to speak face to face (via video call, not teleportation). If you’re in different timezones, it can help to schedule a regular time to talk – ideally when the whole family is together and there are no tired or hungry children to contend with.

Click here to get support with your international health plan

Some of the most popular video calling apps include Skype, Facebook messenger and WhatsApp. If you’re connected to wifi the video call is totally free, otherwise you’ll be charged for the data you use. So there really is no excuse to not call your mum more often!

Send a letter

Expats no longer need to rely on snail mail to stay in touch with friends and family back home. That said, it’s still much more of an experience to send or receive letter. There’s something more personal about sitting down to read a letter someone has taken the time to write. If you have children, you could also ask them to draw pictures or write short stories to send with the letter – it’s a great way to get them to really think about the person they’re writing to.

…or a message

If you’re worried about things going missing in the post, send what you can over social media or email instead. You may already be speaking regularly by video call but so much happens throughout the day that you might want to share. Especially if you have young children! So get snap happy: take tonnes of photos and share them with friends and family on social media.

Everyday rituals

If you’ve moved abroad with your children, it’s up to you to make sure they feel connected to the people back home. Find ways to make grandparents part of your children’s everyday lives; set up a daily video call so they can read the bedtime story, tell your children stories about their family members or create a photo album that they help to organise. Distance doesn’t need to get in the way of closeness, you might just have to work a little harder.

Reconnect in person

Nothing beats a visit home but it can end up being quite tiring if you try to fit everyone in. Prioritise who you want to see and if you can, get them to come to you. Consider renting a holiday home somewhere central and inviting anyone who wants to see you to come there – it will save you driving up and down the country and tuckering the whole family out.

Find out more about AXA’s global health plans for wherever life takes you

AXA’s global health cover can help you stay in touch with friends and family, but they can protect you and your loved ones every step of the big move. Find out more about AXA’s international health insurance and tick one major relocation task off your list.

Presented by AXA.

AXA Global Healthcare (EU) Limited. Registered in Ireland number 630468. Registered Office: Wolfe Tone House, Wolfe Tone Street, Dublin 1. AXA Global Healthcare (EU) Limited is regulated by the Central Bank of Ireland.

AXA Global Healthcare (UK) Limited. Registered in England (No. 03039521). Registered Office: 20 Gracechurch Street, London, EC3V 0BG, United Kingdom. AXA Global Healthcare (UK) Limited is authorised and regulated in the UK by the Financial Conduct Authority.

 
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HEALTH

Kiné and ostéo: How to access physio and osteopathy in France

They’re two very different physical therapy services – and only one is covered by French state healthcare.

Published: 4 July 2024 11:30 CEST
Kiné and ostéo: How to access physio and osteopathy in France

Kiné (physio)

You might have heard people in France talk about a kiné (pronounced roughly as kin-ay) – they’re talking about going to a kinésithérapeute (a physiotherapist, or physio) for sometimes intense sessions involving the manipulation of muscles and joints, and doing physical exercises to increase muscle strength, and improve flexibility and mobility following injury.

Rehabilitation following sports injuries is perhaps the most common reason for a visit – and some kinés specialise in this lucrative area – but any injury that can be improved through physical therapy is covered. Back problems, recovery from knee, hip or shoulder injuries or operations, and conditions including carpal tunnel syndrome, for example, may require kiné expertise.

As may a patient recovering from a long-term or debilitating illness.

What treatment is required and how many sessions – usually 30 minutes once a week – depends on each individual case. 

Kinés tend to either work in hospitals or have private clinics. Physiotherapy has been recognised as a ‘paramedical’ profession for 70 years. Sessions are reimbursed by the state at 60 percent, while the rest will usually be reimbursed by a top-up mutuelle.

READ ALSO Health insurance in France: What you need to know about a mutuelle

In theory, that means you can book your own appointments.

But the standard practice is to get a referral from your médecin traitant (GP), or doctor at a hospital if you’ve gone – for example – to A&E. Once you have a prescription for kiné sessions, you can then book an appointment at the kiné of your choice.

If you ask, your doctor might recommend a local kiné, but you can choose who you visit – this also means that you can shop around, so if you’re not happy with one kiné you can go to another who you might get on with better.

Ostéopathie (osteopath)

Definitely not the same, but complimentary is ostéopathie (osteopathy) is another form of physical therapy. Like physio treatment, it offers ‘hands-on’ treatment for a range of physical conditions.

Unlike physio, it’s a short, sharp shock-style treatment for acute conditions, rather than long-term re-education – such as when someone ‘puts their back out’ and needs a fast correction. One or two sessions are usually all that’s required.

It solves the immediate problem, but physio may be required on top of ostéo treatment to further ease the complaint and ensure it’s less likely to happen again.

Despite being considered an ‘alternative’ form of medicine, it is recognised as ‘moderately effective’ for the treatment of back and neck conditions by the Académie Nationale de la Médecine.

Crucially, it’s not usually covered by state health insurance in France because it is considered an alternative treatment. As such, your GP may suggest you go to an ostéo, but at your own expense.

You may get reimbursements from your mutuelle, but these may be limited to a maximum number of treatments per year – conditions depend on the individual policy.

As with the kiné, you book your own sessions direct with the ostéo.

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