Tips to help you reach your physical therapy goals

If you have a physical therapy program and struggle to stick to it – you’re not alone. It can be difficult to carve out time each day, and tasks without instant results (like exercise and rehab – where repetition is key!) can often be pushed down the to-do list.

So, it’s not surprising that the level of adherence to prescribed at-home physical therapy programs is estimated to be as low as 15 per cent, according to Robin Sydney from Lusio Rehab – a leader in assistive technology designed to make physical therapy and rehab easier to tackle.

The problem with this, overarching clinical evidence agrees, is that early intervention and regular exercise lead to better outcomes, just like they did for nine-year-old Bailey.

Bailey, who has cerebral palsy, had never been able to put on his own pair of pants until he undertook and committed to a nine-day intensive physical therapy program, where he repeated set exercises hundreds of times a day.

At the end of the nine days, Bailey was able to lift his right ankle over his left knee for the first time, and he celebrated by putting on a pair of shorts all by himself!

Commitment and action can change everything.

Robin shares five quick tips to adhere to a physical therapy program and achieve better outcomes.

1. Do physical therapy with a relative, carer or friend who can keep you accountable

Adherence rates increase when a relative, carer or friend is expecting you to show up versus when you’re going it alone – it’s like a layer of extra commitment to make your therapy program stick. You aren't just showing up for you, you’re showing up for them too.

2. Turn your therapy program into a game or competition

Before we continue, we want to clarify that we don’t believe disability or physical limits are a game or competition. This is purely advice to implement a program.

One of the simplest ways to do this is try to beat your personal best. If you’re doing therapy in a group, you could play 'best of three’ – i.e., where the person who does the highest number of reps in a set block of time (safely) wins.

Don’t forget to add a reward, which can create positive reinforcement and cement a new routine.

3. Don’t set the bar too high – break big goals down into milestones, tasks, and daily bite-sized steps

This way, you’ll know exactly what to do each day to remove thinking and procrastination.

4. Block time out in your calendar to do your physical therapy program and treat it like it’s an appointment

Then, when the time comes, turn off distractions, close the door, and focus on the goal you’ve set.

5. Be sure you know what exercise or goal your therapist has suggested and that you have whatever equipment you need to carry out the exercise – like a foam roller, sneakers, a resistance band, or weights

Not having a clear understanding of your exercise or goal will make it very difficult for you to get started. If your therapist has a picture of the exercise, take a snap of it on your phone, and if they have a video, even better - ask for the link!

Likewise, not having the proper equipment to carry out your physical therapy can turn into a roadblock. Buying equipment online can remove the extra step of going to a shop and help to get you started faster.

It’s important to know that it takes an average of 66 days to turn a new behaviour into a habit. Based on this theory, if you can stick to a physical therapy program for 66 days, it’ll become second nature without motivation or willpower – neither of which will sustain long term change alone.

Therefore, turning your program into bite-sized steps that you consistently take is key to success.

If you’ve read down the list and arrived at this point, well done! It shows you’re serious about sticking to your physical therapy program to achieve better outcomes and create lasting change.

These tips can help you achieve results, but they’re just the start. Technology has been shown to make physical therapy exercise faster, easier, and more effective to expedite results – and this is where LusioMATE comes in.

LusioMATE is designed to flip thinking from ‘I have to do my therapy’ to ‘Right! Let’s play some Lusio!’ to get you through the 66 days it takes to convert a program to habit.

It’s a physical therapy app with wearable sensors and its helped people aged from 4 to 94 years to achieve their daily physical therapy goals and support a range of disabilities.

Here’s how it works

1. Download the LusioMATE app from the App Store or Google Play and open it on your device.
2. Click ‘Create New Goal’ inside the app.
3. Follow the instructions on where to place the wearable sensors that come inside the LusioMATE pack. The sensors automatically connect to the LusioMATE app.
4. Choose from more than 25 games, like ‘Basketball’, ‘Steel Man’, ‘Tetrix’ and ‘Caveman’ – these take the goal you set and turn it into a game that you won’t be able to put down!
5. Start playing Lusio and smashing your physical therapy goals!

The great news is, LusioMATE is small enough to fit in your pocket, so you can carry and use it wherever you are, and it can be purchased with National Disability Insurance Scheme plan funding.

Plus, if you want to, you can give your clinical team access to the LusioMATE app to create your unique movement goals and keep them in the loop to let them see your progress.

Interested in LusioMATE? Click here.