FOR HEALTH PROFESSIONALS | Safe Exercise at Home

Information for health professionals

We know that simple functional exercises to improve balance, strength and endurance can improve function and prevent falls.

Physiotherapists, exercise physiologists and other health professionals have a crucial role in helping older people and those with health conditions safely exercise at home.

Use this website with your clients to suggest exercises, give tips for staying motivated at home and for staying safe while exercising.

Older woman looking at tablet with physiotherapist

Resources

Use the tabs below to find resources that may be of use in your role as a facilitator of safe exercise at home for your clients.

COVID-19 resources

Exercise and COVID-19
Exercise and physical activity recommendations for older people recovering from COVID-19 available on the Safe Exercise at Home website
Latest Australian Government information on COVID-19
Webinars on the coronavirus (COVID-19) response for the health and aged care sector
COVID-19 infection control training
Physiotherapy management for COVID-19 in the acute hospital setting: clinical practice recommendations
Early and short term rehabilitation in COVID-19 survivors
Salman D, et al. (2021). Returning to physical activity after covid-19. BMJ, 372, m4721
Thomas P, et al. (2022). Physiotherapy management for COVID-19 in the acute hospital setting and beyond: an update to clinical practice recommendations. J Physiother, 68(1), 8-25
World Physiotherapy. (2021). World Physiotherapy Response to COVID-19 Briefing Paper 9. Safe rehabilitation approaches for people living with Long COVID: physical activity and exercise.
Elliott N, et al. (2020) Infographic. Graduated return to play guidance following COVID-19 infection. Br J Sports Med, 54(19), 1174-1175
This guidance was developed to guide athletes return to play, however the principles can be applied to safely guide other groups to return to usual physical activities.

Physical activity and exercise guidelines, evidence and resources

WHO Physical Activity Guidelines
Evidence on Physical Activity and Falls Prevention for People Aged 65+ years
Australian Government physical activity guidelines
Evidence report for the UK physical activity guidelines
Cochrane reviews on exercise for falls prevention
PEDro, the Physiotherapy evidence database
Free database of evidence to guide physiotherapy practice
IPTOP resources for exercise and physical activity
Staying active during and after lockdown webinar recordings
Webinar run by the Institute for Musculoskeletal Health

Prof Anne Tiedemann from the University of Sydney provides great tips about fall prevention in an interview with ABC Radio Canberra. Listen below.

Preventing falls_ABC Radio Canberra Jan 2024

00:00 / 09:16

Telehealth resources

Australian Physiotherapy Association
Tips from physiotherapists on delivering phone-based interventions to help people safely increase activity levels
UK Chartered Society of physiotherapists
NSW Agency for Clinical Innovation
Safe Exercise at Home website flyer
A downloadable flyer for you to place in your waiting room to help your patients find the Safe Exercise at Home website

Clinical resources

Physiotherapy Exercises
Free database of 1000 exercises to produce exercise sheets. Includes sample exercise programs for older people
Shirley Ryan AbilityLab
A database of rehabilitation outcome measures
Moving Medicine
Resources for health professionals on prescribing movement that focuses on people with health conditions
Pulmonary Rehabilitation
Make Movement your Mission - Later life training
This is a collection of exercise videos suitable for people at Level 1 and 2. Each video contributes to form a whole series that can be progressed through as a daily or weekly plan for exercise.
Osteoporosis Exercise at home
Webinar (one hour) with exercises suitable for people with osteoporosis