Workshop 1 (Full day)
Enhancing Later Life Among Older Adults Through Functional Fitness MOT and Falls Efficacy
Learning objectives
Morning session:
- Describe the main features of the FFMOT and how it works in practice.
- Describe the key elements of the WHO Physical Activity Guidelines for Health for people aged 50 - 90.
- Engage in meaningful conversations with people about their functional fitness and taking action to be more active.
- Understand the importance of the normative data used to compare peoples abilities in the 7 functional tests.
- Understand how to implement the FFMOT in different settings.
Afternoon session:
- Explain falls efficacy.
- Identify falls efficacy-related patient-reported outcome measures and performance-based measures.
- Describe the opportunities and challenges of falls efficacy measures.
- Design interventions using an enactive approach to build agency in older people to overcome falls.
Facilitator: Professor Dawn Skelton, BSc PhD MD.h.c. Hon FCSP FRCP Edin, Professor of Ageing and Health, Ageing Well Research Group, Research Centre for Health (ReaCH), School of Health and Life Sciences, Glasgow Caledonian University, Scotland, United Kingdom
Biography: Prof Dawn Skelton is Professor of Ageing and Health in the Department of Physiotherapy and Paramedicine at Glasgow Caledonian University. She Co-Leads the Ageing Well Research Group and is a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh and an Honorary Fellow of the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy.
As an Exercise Physiologist, she has a keen interest in exercise rehabilitation within a falls prevention scope, from the hospital based physiotherapy delivery to the community based specialist exercise instructor provision. Her current research ranges from motivation and patient preference to engaging the very frail, increasing adherence to long term exercise and working with the pre-frail to prevent poor outcomes later. Implementation, fidelity and quality of evidence-based interventions when delivered in different settings is also her passion.
She chaired the Royal Osteoporosis Society’s Statement on Exercise and Osteoporosis (2018) and the Older People panel for the UK’s update of the Physical Activity for Health Guidelines (2019). She is currently Chair of the British Geriatrics Society Rehabilitation Group and is part of the Community Rehabilitation Alliance and the National Falls Prevention Co-ordination Group within Public Health England. She is a Member of the Scientific Advisory Board for the Older People and Frailty Policy Research Unit (OPFPRU) funded by the NIHR. In her spare time she is a Director of the not for profit training company, Later Life Training, based in Killin, Perthshire.
Facilitator: Mr Warin Rakkamon, Physiotherapist Lecturer, School of Health and Life Sciences, Glasgow Caledonian University
Biography: Mr Warin is a Physiotherapist Lecturer working at the Mahidol University in Faculty of Physical Therapy in Thailand. He completed his PhD on The Functional Fitness MOT for the Community dwelling older adults in Thailand. This included a systematic review of the literature to collate normative data from different regions and countries, training of 12 physiotherapists to allow valid and reliable collation of normative data for the functional tests from the northern, northeastern, central and southern regions, covering rural and urban living older adults across Thailand, and a feasibility study of delivery of the full FFMOT conversations and motivational contacts over 12 weeks, showing it was acceptable and feasible to run and had positive effects on physical function and self-reported physical activity.
Facilitator: Dr Shawn Soh Leng Hsien, Singapore Institute of Technology
Biography: Dr Soh Leng Hsien (Shawn) is a Senior Lecturer in the Health and Social Sciences Cluster (Physiotherapy) at Singapore Institute of Technology. He is involved in undergraduate and postgraduate teaching. Shawn is passionate about research areas surrounding falls efficacy, measurement instruments, and psychometrics. He is leading several local and international research collaborations. Through his PhD, he extended the concept of falls efficacy, developed the world’s first balance recovery confidence scale and has published ten papers as the first author in various international peer-reviewed journals. He was awarded the best oral presenter at the World Physiotherapy-AWP Regional Congress 2022. He is presently the Topic Editor, Insights into Falls Efficacy and Fear of Falling, Frontiers in Aging and the Editorial Board Member, Journal for Frailty, Sarcopenia and Falls (JFSF). He serves as an invited peer reviewer for several journals.
Workshop 2 (Full day)
Contemporary Assessment & Management of Spine Related Leg Pain
Learning objectives
- Aim to be able to incorporate a mechanism-based framework to differentiate spine-related leg pain into their clinical reasoning
- Aim to be familiar with the practical performance and interpretation of a contemporary assessment in the context of spine-related leg pain
- Aim to be competent in designing a targeted intervention for patients with different types of spine-related leg pain
Facilitator: Professor Annina Schmid, MMACP, MManipTher, PhD, Head, Neuromusculoskeletal Health and Science Lab, Wellcome Clinical Career Development Fellow, BRC Senior Research Fellow, Specialist Musculoskeletal Physiotherapist University of Oxford, United Kingdom
Biography: Prof Annina Schmid is a Specialist Musculoskeletal Physiotherapist and a Neuroscientist affiliated with the Nuffield Department of Clinical Neurosciences at Oxford University in the UK. She leads the Neuromusculoskeletal Health and Science Lab
(https://www.ndcn.ox.ac.uk/research/neuromusculoskeletal-health-and-science-lab) which uses a translational and interdisciplinary approach to study the pathophysiology of neuromusculoskeletal conditions with the ultimate goal to improve management for patients. Annina has a particular interest in entrapment neuropathies and neuropathic pain and the development of precision therapy for these patients.
Prof Annina has published her work in leading clinical and basic science journals and regularly presents her work at national and international meetings. Her research contributions have been recognised by the award of several prizes (most recently the Emerging Leaders Prize in Pain Research, Medical Research Foundation) and competitive fellowships. She was the first allied health professional to win a prestigious Clinical Research Career Development Fellowship from the Wellcome Trust.
In addition to her research activities, Annina teaches postgraduate courses related to pain and neuroscience internationally. She also maintains a weekly caseload as a specialist musculoskeletal Physiotherapist both privately and in the NHS. Further information can be found at www.neuro-research.ch.
Workshop 3A (Half day - AM) & Workshop 3B (Half day - AM)
Healthy Conversation Skills - Workshop 1 (on 12 July 2024)
- Workshop 2 (on 15 July 2024)
Learning Objectives
- Explore the health belief axis.
- Understand the Healthy Conversation Skills philosophy.
- Learn and practice the core Healthy Conversation Skills.
Facilitator: Professor Coralie English, BAppl Sci (Physio), PhD Professor, Physiotherapy, and Deputy Head of School, Research. University of Newcastle Deputy Director, Heart and Stroke Research Program, Hunter Medical Research Institute
Biography: Prof Coralie English leads a multidisciplinary team of researchers whose work focuses on understanding the effects of physical activity, aerobic exercise and diet in people after stroke. She and her team work closely with people with lived experience of stroke in co-design and partnership in all aspects of research. Over her career she has completed many clinical trials related to physical activity after stroke, including telehealth delivered exercise and diet interventions and laboratory-based dose-finding trial on breaking up sitting time. She was the project lead on the development of the i-REBOUND website – a co-designed website to support people with stroke to ‘move more’ and ‘eat well’ (https://irebound.enableme.org.au/).
Prof Coralie is CI on the National Health and Medical Research Council Centre for Research Excellence in Stroke Trials and Innovation (2022 - 2027). In 2022-2023, Coralie was Lead Chair for the Stroke Recovery and Rehabilitation Roundtable 3 topic on Post-stroke Fatigue (Prof Gillian Mead, UK Co-Chair). She was the Co-Chair of the Stroke Living Clinical Guidelines (2015-2022); the world’s first living clinical guideline, and is current Chair of the Research Advisory Committee, and Non-Executive Director (Research Special Interest) for the Stroke Foundation of Australia. Coralie has a career total of more than 130 peer-reviewed publications, more than 12 million in research funding and supervised 6 PhD candidates to completion (4 current) and more than 25 honours students.
Workshop 4 (Half day - PM)
Breaking the Shackles of Pathoanatomical Approaches to Pain: Developing Psychologically-Informed and Trauma-Informed Physiotherapy Practice to Better Serve Those Challenged by Pain
Learning Objectives
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- Apply communication and other psychological strategies to enhance health professional-patient interaction.
- Recognise the need for trauma-informed practice and identify how to optimise safety for patients experiencing pain and trauma.
Facilitator: Dr Lester Jones, Singapore Institute of Technology
Biography: Dr Jones is an experienced educator and APA-titled Pain Physiotherapist. He has had academic positions in the United Kingdom, Australia and now Singapore (since 2018), where he is a Senior Lecturer at Singapore Institute of Technology. Much of his scholarly work has been exploring pain as a multidimensional experience and includes the application of the Pain and Movement Reasoning Model which he co-created. He was the first physiotherapist awarded MScMed(PainMgt), the inaugural chair of APA National Pain Group and was the lead tutor on pain topics for La Trobe University’s Masters program for Sports and Musculoskeletal Physiotherapy. He is currently into his third term on the Pain Association of Singapore Council. He is the Secretary of the International Association of the Study of Pain (IASP) SIG Pain and Trauma (formerly Pain related to Torture, Organised Violence and War). Since September 2022, he is an elected member of the IASP Council.
Facilitator: Ms Wendy Ng, Singapore Sport and Exercise Medicine Centre@Novena
Biography: Ms Wendy Ng is an APA-titled Musculoskeletal Physiotherapist with 15 years experience managing people (adult, adolescent, and paediatric) experiencing musculoskeletal pain and conditions. She currently practices at Singapore Sport and Exercise Medicine Centre@Novena as Principal Physiotherapist, focusing on chronic, complex musculoskeletal pain. She is a Ph.D. candidate and Australian Government Research Training Program scholarship recipient with Curtin University, Australia. Previously a SingHealth Health Science scholar, her six-year stint as physiotherapist in KK Women’s and Children’s Hospital and various school settings endowed her with an ability to take a lifespan developmental perspective to chronic pain in clinical practice. Her research interests are translational, finding novel ways to improve healthcare professionals' pain education and the understanding of the biopsychosocial nature of musculoskeletal pain. Specifically, supporting healthcare professionals’ adoption of clinical behaviours towards a biopsychosocial approach in musculoskeletal pain care. She has published in peer-reviewed journals and presented her research at various international conferences.
Facilitator: Dr Yang Su Yin, Woodlands Health
Biography: Dr Yang is Head of Psychology Service at Woodlands Health. Prior to joining Woodlands Health, she served as the Pain Psychology and Research lead (2011-2020) at the Pain Management Clinic at Tan Tock Seng Hospital. Her practice focuses on improving the lives of people with chronic pain and chronic diseases through interdisciplinary collaborative models of care. Dr Yang holds a content expert and clinical facilitator position at Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine in her specialist area of Pain Psychology since 2017. She has spoken at various local, regional and international platforms on the topic related to the Psychological Management of Chronic Pain. Dr Yang has published articles in both health magazines and international journals and has peer reviewed articles for journal publication. Dr Yang holds a patent application for a Brain Computer Interface (BCI) to identify and extract Electroencephalogram signals published in Singapore, Chinese, European and US offices.
Facilitator: Dr Toh Siao Hui, KK Women's and Children's Hospital
Workshop 5 (Half day - AM)
Ultrasound Imaging in Intensive Care Physiotherapy - Part II
Learning Objectives
- Acquire basic skills and interpret ultrasonography in relevance to intensive care physiotherapy.
- Revise basic lung ultrasound and detect common lung pathologies.
- Learn how to perform diaphragmatic ultrasound.
- Determine diaphragmatic ultrasound interpretation.
- Understand clinical uses and limitations in assessment of diaphragm pathologies; diaphragmatic paralysis, neuromuscular diseases and ICU acquired weakness.
- Understand benefits and limitations of diaphragmatic ultrasound.
1. Demonstrate working knowledge of bedside ultrasound machine and use of probe
2. Accurately use ultrasonography on specific anatomical parts of the thorax
3. Identify pathological presentations of lung and diaphragmatic conditions on the ultrasound
4. Appreciate the use of point of care ultrasound in ICU during physiotherapy
Facilitator: Dr Geetha Kayambu, National University Hospital
Biography: Dr Geetha Kayambu is a principal physiotherapist specialising in critical care research at the National University Hospital. She has served as Director of Research, Department of Rehabilitation (NUH). Geetha completed her US training under A/Prof George Ntoumenopoulos (Physiotherapy US expert) in a thoracic US workshop in SGH in 2017 and WCPT 2017. She further completed US course SICM in SISPO 2017 and ICU US workshop in SG-ANZICS 2017. She has conducted several ultrasound workshops with ABBOT; 4th Singapore Clinical Nutrition Meeting 2018, Society for Geriatric Medicine Conference 2018 and 2019, Evidence Based Perioperative Medicine - Asia Congress 2019. She presented work at the SG-ANZICS 2018 and at Intensive Care Society Congress 2023 on US in Critical Care Rehabilitation. She practices bedside US for ICU patients as point of care management since 2017 and has conducted an RCT investigating weakness through US in ECMO patients.
Facilitator: Associate Professor Ong Hwee Kuan, Singapore General Hospital
Biography: A/Prof Ong Hwee Kuan is a Senior Principal Physiotherapist (SGH) with keen interest in cardiopulmonary practice. She completed a post-graduate course in US Imaging for Physiotherapists, offered by University of Melbourne in 2008. In 2016, she organised a Thoracic US Imaging Workshop for Physiotherapists in collaboration with A/P George Ntoumenopoulos who visited as an HMDP Visiting expert.
Facilitator: Ms Tan Chun Ju, Principal Physiotherapist, Singapore General Hospital
Biography: Ms Tan Chun Ju (CJ) is a Principal Physiotherapist (SGH) first exposed to lung ultrasound during the Thoracic ultrasound imaging workshop for physiotherapists conducted by A/Prof George Ntoumenopoulos. CJ has been managing patients with respiratory problems in the medical and surgical ward. She ultilises lung ultrasound imaging in complex cases to facilitate clinical decisions during treatment sessions and evaluate treatment effectiveness.
Facilitator: Mr Qamaruzaman Syed Gani, Senior Physiotherapist, National University Hospital
Biography: Mr Qamar is a Senior Physiotherapist (NUH) with keen interests in Critical Care Rehabilitation, Cardiac Rehabilitation including Heart Failure. He has completed an in-house training on Ultrasound lmaging for Physiotherapists by Dr Geetha Kayambu as well an Ultrasound workshop during Society of Intensive Care Medicine (SICM) Symposium 2019.
Facilitator: Dr Prit Anand Singh, Changi General Hospital
Biography: Dr Singh is a Senior consultant at Dept of Anaesthesia and Surgical Intensive care at Changi Gen Hospital. He has been a keen user of ultrasound for Regional Anaesthesia and Pain medicine interventions. He has also learnt POCUS for Perioperative, trauma and resuscitation scenarios. He has taught at various national and international workshops. He is also a member for the POCUS subgroup with Singapore Society of Anaesthesiologists and Association of Regional Anaesthesia India. Two narrative reviews on perioperative POCUS have been accepted by a renowned journal and awaiting print.
Facilitator: Associate Professor Kollengode Ramanathan, National University Heart Centre
Biography: A/Prof Ramanathan is an Adult Cardiac Intensivist at the Cardiothoracic Intensive Care Unit (CTICU) at the National University Heart Centre, Singapore (NUHCS). He had his speciality training in Cardiac Anaesthesiology from India and is trained in Intensive Care Medicine from Brisbane, Australia. He completed his Diploma in Echocardiography [Dip Echo] and Masters in Clinical Ultrasound from the University of Melbourne and is the Regional Supervisor of training for echocardiography for College of Intensive Care Medicine, Australia, and European Diploma in Echo cardiography, ESICM.Workshop 6 (Half day - PM)
Rehabilitative Palliative Care in Physiotherapy
Learning Objectives
- Understand a Physiotherapist Role in Palliative Care.
- Recognise Palliative Care needs in Physiotherapy practice settings.
- Examine and discuss your role in providing palliative care support to your clients.
Facilitator: Ms Roxanne Foo, Physiotherapist and Head of Rehab, Dover Park Hospice
Biography: Ms Roxanne graduated from Nanyang Polytechnic with a Diploma in Physiotherapy (2011) and subsequently completed her Physiotherapy degree with First Class Honours in 2012 from Glasgow Caledonian University. Although her career intention began with pursuing a specialisation in Paediatrics in mind, Roxanne found herself led to serve clients on the other end of the life-course spectrum – Palliative Care. Her experiences drew her into serving the geriatric population and the community sector, eventually stirring a deep passion in journeying alongside individuals as they approached the end of life. In the midst of the pandemic, Ms Roxanne went on to complete her Masters in Science in Palliative Care with King’s College London in 2021. Today, she leads the Palliative Rehabilitation Unit at Dover Park Hospice, striving together with her dynamic team to raise standards of Rehabilitative Supportive Care in advancing diseases, in hope to redefine living with progressive terminal conditions across trajectories.
Facilitator: Ms Neo Huixin, Physiotherapist, Assisi Hospice
Biography: Ms Huixin has 5 years experience as a physiotherapist in palliative care. She currently works in primarily in the inpatient unit at Assisi Hospice. Prior to Assisi Hospice, Ms Huixin worked at the oncology and haematological wards at Singapore General Hospital. Ms Huixin graduated from Trinity College Dublin with a bachelor’s degree in Physiotherapy. Ms Huixin firmly believes that physiotherapy plays a vital role for patients with a limited prognosis in optimising their function and quality of life.
Facilitator: Ms Chia Huey Yen, Senior Physiotherapist, National University Hospital
Biography: Ms Huey Yen is a senior physiotherapist at the National University Hospital Singapore, where she works closely with patients with terminal illnesses receiving Palliative Care. Having completed her Masters in Palliative Care at King’s College London in 2019, Ms Huey Yen has since contributed to Palliative Care education as a trainer for the Palliative Care Course for Physiotherapist. At work, Ms Huey Yen assesses and relieves symptoms associated with terminal illnesses, provides rehabilitation and enables patients to remain as active as possible, while aiming to improve patients’ quality of life. She has also introduced palliative rehabilitative care education as a core module for the physiotherapy preceptorship programme in NUH.
Facilitator: Ms Melissa Ng Xin Yi, Senior Physiotherapist, Yishun Community Hospital
Biography: Graduating with honours from Trinity College Dublin, Ms Melissa holds a strong passion in geriatric and palliative care. Her years of clinical experience working in these field spans from hospitals to community services including nursing home. She is currently a Senior Physiotherapist at Yishun Community Hospital (YCH). In 2015, with other multidisciplinary members, she assisted to start up the Palliative Care Unit in YCH. Since then, Ms Melissa seeks to continually improve the standards of rehabilitative support care to enhance holistic care provision for individuals with advancing disease. Presently, she leads a team in developing a palliative ready rehabilitation service and assists in enhancing the palliative care delivery model.