Physiotherapy doesn't have to happen in a hospital

Singapore is ageing quickly and more people will need physiotherapy in the years ahead. Relying solely on clinic visits will not be enough.

- Kwan Peijun

Physiotherapy has long been about helping people recover after an injury, surgery, or stroke. But in Singapore today, care is already moving beyond the hospital walls.

Patients are being supported at home through remote monitoring, guided by apps that keep their exercise programmes on track, and even turning to chatbots for quick, safe advice on managing common conditions.

The profession is changing as demand shoots up, but that doesn't mean a lower level of care; far from it.

WHY CHANGE IS NEEDED

In Singapore's hospitals, we see thousands of physiotherapy appointments each month. But reality is different. There are not enough therapists to meet the growing number of patients. Here, there is some patchiness in the experience. Many patients don't show up for various reasons, such as having mostly recovered from their original complaint or having sought other treatments.

At the National University Hospital (NUH), as many as one in five appointments is missed each month. Others wait weeks just to be seen because of the high patient load.

Missed appointments waste resources, delay recovery and clog up the system. With our ageing population, this problem will only grow.

That's why at NUH, we are looking seriously at moving physiotherapy towards digitally enabled models of care.

Instead of relying only on hospital visits, we are exploring how patients can benefit from three things: first, remote monitoring where therapists track your progress at home; second, home exercise programmes where patients take ownership and stay consistent with guidance from their physiotherapists; and third, self-help chatbots that offer quick, reliable guidance for common conditions, aches and pains.