Singapore Physiotherapy Association

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Singapore-International Physiotherapy Congress 2026
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Workshop Speakers

Pre-congress Workshops: 10th July 2026 (Friday)

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Pre-Congress Workshops - Workshop 1

Bridging Hospital to Home: Practical Respiratory Care and Patient Education for Physiotherapists

Learning objectives:

After attending this workshop participants will be able to:

Identify common respiratory symptoms (breathless, secretions etc.) and teach and apply symptom management strategies.
Identify areas of their patient education interventions that they can improve to be better person-oriented practitioners for people living with respiratory conditions
Formulate an evidence-based plan for people to return to community and reintegrate into their daily activities.

Expected Outputs for Participants

A take-home patient education toolkit
A simple decision aid/ checklist for breathlessness management
A decision assessment aid for physiotherapists working in the community.

Facilitator: Dr Judy King

Biography: Dr King is a physiotherapist and associate professor in the physiotherapy program at the University of Ottawa in Canada where she teaches the cardiorespiratory component of the program.

Her innovative person-centred research program encompasses both patient education and education of health care students and professionals. Her fields of study include chronic disease management, health literacy, interprofessional education and clinical reasoning. She has been privileged to present her research work at many international conferences.

Dr King is grateful to be the recipient of a number of awards for her teaching and mentoring of students and new health professionals including a Chair in University Teaching.

She has been appointed to several national and international committees including being a founding executive committee member of the International Confederation of Cardiorespiratory Physical Therapists (ICCrPT) of World Physiotherapy and currently is an executive member of the World Physiotherapy’s Education Committee.

Pre-Congress Workshops - Workshop 2

Developing Sustainable and Scalable Physiotherapy-led Physical Activity Interventions

Learning objectives:

To understand why physical inactivity is a critical problem to be addressed and the important role of physiotherapy globally to address this challenge.
To understand key theories underpinning physical activity behaviour change and the use of health coaching and motivational interviewing techniques to address physical inactivity.
To design a physical activity intervention for your local context underpinned by evidence, theory and interest-holder input.
To understand key concepts of implementation science and how it can help with designing and evaluating your physical activity intervention.
To design a physical activity intervention for your local context with consideration for implementability, scalability and sustainment.

Facilitator: Professor Leanne Hassett

Biography: Professor Hassett is an Australian physiotherapist with a background as a neurological physiotherapist, working clinically for 15 years in adult traumatic brain injury rehabilitation. Leanne is currently a Professor of Allied Health (Western Sydney Local Health District), a conjoint role between the University of Sydney and a local health district in Sydney, Australia.

Leanne also co-leads the Implementation Science Academy at Sydney Health Partners, one of 12 Australian Research Translation Centres, with a focus on building capacity and capability in translational research across the health system.

Leanne’s current research focuses on synthesis of evidence and testing effectiveness and implementation of physical activity interventions in healthcare and community settings. She has made a significant contribution to the understanding of how to deliver and promote physical activity in people with moderate to severe TBI through the conduct of clinical trials, systematic reviews and the recent development of a national clinical practice guideline.

Pre-Congress Workshop - Workshop 3

The Cross Bracing Protocol: A Non-surgical Treatment To Facilitate Healing Of Anterior Cruciate Ligament Rupture

Learning objectives:

Understand contemporary research evidence for ACL injury consequences and management options including research evidence of ACL healing.
Understand the evolution of the Cross Bracing Protocol, medical considerations, and appropriate patient selection.
Understand ACL injury shared decision-making in clinical practice.
Practice advanced practical skills of assessment to differentially diagnose presenting sporting knee conditions.
Practice brace fitting and brace angle changes using variety of possible knee braces.
Learn and practice evidence informed rehabilitation during the Cross Bracing Protocol.
Understand common issues and appropriate impairment assessment both during the bracing and brace removal phases.
Understand and practice criteria based, acute, intermediate and late-stage ACL rehabilitation stages using a range of assessment and intervention domains including using VALD medical technology.
Understand and Practice criteria-based return to sport testing post ACL injury.

Facilitator: A/Prof Stephanie Filbay

Biography: A/Prof Stephanie Filbay is a physiotherapist, NHMRC Fellow, Dame Kate Campbell Fellow, Principal Research Fellow and co-lead of the Musculoskeletal and Sports Medicine Stream of the Centre for Health, Exercise and Sports Medicine at the University of Melbourne.

Drawing on her extensive research, A/Prof Filbay is recognised for promoting evidence-based management of ACL injury and developing strategies to improve outcomes for patients. She has presented her research over 100 times to a variety of stakeholders, serves on committees for international organisations, has supervised 30 individuals at various career stages and received numerous awards, scholarships, and grants for her research.

A/Prof Filbay was recently awarded a consecutive NHMRC Investigator Grant to fund a further five years of research aimed at improving outcomes for people with ACL injury and was awarded over $2M in funding to lead a large clinical trial comparing ACL injury outcomes between people managed with the Cross Bracing Protocol and ACL reconstruction.

Facilitator: Dr Jane Rooney

Biography: Dr Jane Rooney, FACP, is a Specialist Sports and Exercise Physiotherapist (Sub-specialityknee), Titled Musculoskeletal Physiotherapist and an Associate Clinical Professor at Swinburne University, Melbourne. Awarded a Churchill Fellowship in 2016, Jane travelled through Europe, Scandinavia and the USA to investigate management algorithms and rehabilitation strategies for ACL injury. This work led to a research collaboration with Dr Stephanie Filbay exploring treatment decision making following ACL rupture in Australia, ultimately informing a free online patient decision aid for shared decision-making.

Since 2020, Jane has been a leading implementer of the Cross Bracing Protocol and co-authored the 2023 BJSM case series. She is also a co-author and rehabilitation protocol co-designer for the EMBRACE multicentre RCT, comparing Cross Bracing with ACL reconstruction.

With over 35 years of clinical experience, Jane works as a clinical expert in ACL injury non and post operative management and criteria-based rehabilitation, supporting athletes of all levels.

Pre-Congress Workshop - Workshop 4

Next-Generation Serial Casting – Improving Lower-Limb Spasticity and Functional Range with the Turtlebrace, A Hands-On Workshop

Learning Objectives:

Upon completion of this workshop, participants will be able to:

1. Interpret the current evidence for serial casting's effectiveness on lower limb spasticity, range of motion, and functional gait.

2. Demonstrate safe and effective application of lower-limb thermoplastic serial casts using Turtlebrace.

3. Identify appropriate patient selection, assessments, contraindications, and clinical pathways integrating Turtlebrace into physiotherapy treatment plans.

4. Apply knowledge to real clinical cases involving spasticity management, range restoration, gait improvement, and prevention of contractures.

Facilitator: Ms Rafizah Abdul Rashid

Biography: Rafizah is a dedicated paediatric physiotherapist with decades of experience helping children achieve their goals. She completed her Bachelor of Applied Science (Physiotherapy) at the University of Sydney in 1994 and later earned a Master of Physiotherapy (Paediatrics) from the University of Queensland in 2010. Her extensive career spans Australia and Singapore, including roles with the Disability Services Commission in Western Australia, providing consultancy support to therapists in rural health services. She has also worked in remote Central Australia and served as a senior physiotherapist at the Cerebral Palsy Alliance in Sydney from 2018 to 2021. In Singapore, Rafizah has lectured in physiotherapy at Nanyang Polytechnic and currently teaches paediatrics at the Singapore Institute of Technology’s Physiotherapy Degree Programme.

Pre-Congress Workshop - Workshop 5

Ankle Taping: What, When, and How

Learning Objectives

By the end of the session, participants will be able to

1. Describe the characteristics of each type of tape,

2. When and how to use them in an ankle injury.

Photo coming soon

Facilitator: Ms. Koh Li Ling Vivien, Physiotherapist, Moving Space

Biography: Vivien graduated from University of Sydney with a Bachelor of Applied Science (Physiotherapy). She has over 10 years of experience as an MSK/ Orthopaedic/ Sports/ Dance physiotherapist, treating various musculoskeletal conditions, acute and chronic injuries, pre and post operative rehabilitation of orthopaedic conditions and sports injuries. Her patients range from elite athletes to weekend warriors, doing anything from running to martial arts to the performing arts. She has served in various major games like SEA Games, ASEAN Para Games, and Asian Games. She also provides physiotherapy for various dance studios and companies, and backstage service for dance and musical theatre productions.

Facilitator: Ms. Lim Cheng Kuan Sharon, Physiotherapist, Moving Space

Biography: Sharon graduated from King's College London with a Masters in Science in Physiotherapy (Hons) in 2001 and from University of South Australia with a Masters of Sports and Musculoskeletal Physiotherapy in 2007. She has had more than 20 years of experience in injury management, developing services, and leading and managing teams and projects.

In sports and sports injury management, Sharon has worked with a wide variety of sportsmen and sportswomen involved in marathons, triathlons, track and field, soccer, hockey, softball, ultimate frisbee, rugby, swimming, martial arts, and dance. She enjoys synergising with coaches to facilitate injury management and performance enhancement. She has also served as a sports physiotherapist at many major games including the Winter Olympics, Asian Games and SEA Games.