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Physiotherapists have an important role to play in response to the changing health and social care context, to empower and enable individuals with complex health needs and long term conditions to maximize their independence, empowering them to live long and to live well. Scotland has developed innovate roles for physiotherapists through implementation of triage systems e.g. Musculoskeletal advice triage service (MATS) and employed Advanced Practice Physiotherapists within community settings to support the changing roles of health care professionals in Health and Social Care.

The aim of this module is to allow you to explore physiotherapy practice working together with other health professionals to support individuals who have complex health care needs and their carers and families. You will have the opportunity to build on previous modules where you were introduced to behaviour change approaches and to consider your role in supporting individuals and their families including making use of bio-psycho-social approaches, physical approaches and healthcare technologies. In addition, you will explore physiotherapy roles within specialist and areas of advanced practice within and across different sectors such as community, voluntary and private sectors. In the module you will build on previous knowledge and clinical experience to develop your skills in critical appraisal of evidence, reflection, clinical reasoning, complex decision making, as well as your physiotherapy skills, and communication skills.

You will explore applying these skills in working with people who may have multiple morbidities, complex health needs, long-term conditions or those seen within specialist areas of practice. You will have the opportunity to critique the evidence-base for and reflect on specialist and advanced areas of practice such as Musculoskeletal Advice Triage Service (MATS), critical care, women’s health, sport injury rehabilitation, falls prevention, obesity management, pelvic health, prescribing, vestibular rehabilitation, chronic pain management, paediatrics, learning difficulties, cancer, digital technologies and physiotherapy with people who have had an amputation or have dementia and their carers.

LO1: Critically discuss the changing health and social care context nationally and globally and the implications for current and future physiotherapy service delivery.
LO2: Evidence a critical understanding of the pathological changes and related clinical features commonly seen in individuals with complex or long-term conditions or seen in selected areas of specialist physiotherapy practice.
LO3: Critically evaluate the evidence-base for selected physiotherapy management strategies, including supported self-management, to enable and empower individuals with complex health needs to live longer and well.
LO4: Justify an evaluation approach which could be applied to physiotherapy practice to determine if it is meeting service user needs and which will generate data for quality assurance and health improvement purposes.
LO5: Critically reflect on own learning in relation to partnership working with service-users or their carers in their rehabilitation and management with consideration for your effective contribution as part of the multi-disciplinary team
LO6: Synthesise the evidence relating to a specialist area of practice or relevant for use with service users who have complex needs, which makes use of health informatics technology.