Physiotherapist, Liam White, supports older people who still live independently at home and in their community

THE JOB

I am a physiotherapist working for not-for-profit WA aged care provider, Juniper. I started in October 2023 in Home and Community Care, and our goal is to support older people who are still living independently at home and in their community.

In a nutshell, as a physiotherapist in home care, we will visit a customer in their home and provide an initial assessment which looks at their mobility, function within the home and in the community, so how they are getting out and about. Then from there, we try to identify areas where we can help them improve – whether that’s strength, range or balance – and from this we put together an individual care plan which we run through with the customer.

Some customers will opt to have ongoing support while others prefer to get an exercise program set up that they can then do independently at home.

THE PATH

I completed my bachelor of science majoring in sports science and exercise and health at the University of Western Australia before moving to Sydney and completing a doctor of physiotherapy course at Macquarie University. I took on this additional study so I would qualify as a physiotherapist. My first experience in aged care was during a placement at a rehabilitation centre for older people.

When I was looking for a graduate physiotherapy role, I came across the role in Juniper’s Home and Community Care team and it was the supportive environment, flexibility and customer-building relationships that really appealed to me.

THE GOOD

I love that I get to build good relationships with the customers I support each week. I think of it like having a weekly catch-up to see how life is going, as well as guiding them through any physiotherapy exercises or requirements to help them reach their individual goal. But the most rewarding part is seeing a customer reach their goal after working with them to achieve something. For example, I went to see a customer and we identified some upper limb and fine motor skills were impacted by a recent stroke. So I gave him a finger wall climb exercise to do and the next time I came back to see him he mentioned that he had been doing the exercise and that it had strengthened his fingers so that he could play guitar again. He hadn’t played guitar for over a year since having the stroke. That was a really rewarding moment for me.

THE BAD

In some cases it can be challenging trying to manage a customer’s therapy needs with limited funding. This is because physiotherapists working in home care always want the best outcome for each of our customers, and for some people costs can impact whether they can afford to receive the support they need to reach their goals. For example, someone might be saving their funding for a home modification as their priority.

THE FUTURE

I’d like to see myself develop into a senior level physiotherapist, participating in research opportunities and mentoring graduate physiotherapists.

There is so much that could be done in the aged care sector. There is a lot more research funding into areas such as fall prevention, which is an area of high demand in aged care. I think there are a lot of opportunities in the aged care sector, so I’ve really enjoyed it so far.