Federation Physiotherapy Virtual Care Clinic

Project summary:

The Federation Physiotherapy Virtual Care Clinic launched in late 2023 continues to receive positive feedback from consumers and referrers. The telehealth or virtual care clinic, is run by physiotherapy students and supervised by experienced physiotherapy practitioners.

Federation University is operating the low-or- no-cost virtual care clinic with a commitment to creating a safe and welcoming clinic of choice for individuals living with chronic health conditions.

The clinic runs four days a week for 40 weeks of the year and is designed to assist people living with chronic musculoskeletal, cardiorespiratory, and neurological conditions. This telehealth clinic is working closely with existing health services to establish clear referral pathways for a sustainable virtual care service, where students can take the time to provide evidence-based and person-centred therapeutic service for all who access the clinic.

Latrobe Health Assembly have funded a 2-year trial, to establish and support community satellite hubs within existing community spaces (such as cultural services and neighbourhood/community houses) to provide safe, welcoming, private and technology-supported services for those who cannot access the technology from their homes. This project aligns with action 3.3.3 in the Chronic Disease Action Plan which aims to explore approaches to providing free-to access physical spaces with technology for telehealth services.

The first satellite hub is due to lunch in June 2024 at the Churchill Neighbourhood Centre. A Community Liaison Officer has been employed to work with community to establish appropriate sites, coordinate and support the running of the hubs, and promote the service in the community. If successful, this project will provide a basis for which to explore opportunities for a range of other telehealth services.