To minimise risks of exposing patients to COVID-19, around 70,000 physiotherapists in the UK alone¹ are being asked to adopt remote consultations. Already growing in popularity, physiotherapy apps are now a vital tool for physiotherapists to improve patient outcomes.

Apps can be used effectively to help in assessment, treatment compliance, monitoring of symptoms, or self-management of conditions, improving a patient’s physical and mental health.

On behalf of NHS organisations, ORCHA assesses more apps than anyone else, looking at clinical assurance, safety, data privacy and user experience. Below are two top scoring apps that are designed to help with remote physiotherapy.

Click below to watch our videos about each app:

GPEP Physiotherapy Exercises has been designed with the help of NHS GPs and physiotherapists with the aim of bringing users access to self-help advice from professionals, enabling users with back, muscle and joint conditions to start their recovery early. GPEP‘s ORCHA Review can be found here.

The Chartered Society of Physiotherapy (CSP) has recently launched an App Library to enable its 59,000 members to take a leadership role in incorporating digital technology in their practice.

In our latest video, hear Karen Middleton, Chief Executive Offier, CSP, and Euan McComiskie, UK Health Informatics Lead and Professional Advisor for Northern Ireland at CSP, discuss how apps can help as part of assessment, treatment compliance, monitoring symptoms, and allowing people to self-manage.

“We’re working with ORCHA to try and enable our physios to be able to confidently recommend worthwhile apps to their service users, and for our members to use for their own benefit.” – Euan McComiskie

The CSP’s Physiotherapy App Library can be found at csp.org.uk/applibrary

The question of how patients can best look after their health, especially if they’re in a high-risk category, and whether patients should be increasing their medication just in case, are all concerns GPs have to deal with on a daily basis.

Below, we share how health apps can help those with respiratory conditions. Dr Tom Micklewright shares how he has been using the COVID-19 App Formulary, and gives his personal, practical view on three apps which can help patients better manage their asthma at home.

With 61.4% of the asthma apps we’ve reviewed scoring below ORCHA’s quality threshold, it’s important to understand which apps are clinically assured and safe to use.

Empowering patients:

In the video below, hear Dr Tom Micklewright discuss the importance of empowering patients to self-manage their health, and the role of digital health.

myAsthma app demonstration: 

Dr Micklewright demonstrates the myAsthma app, shares his views, and explores the medication diary, forecasters for mapping out triggers, and personalised action plans which can all be accessed in the app, giving patients more control over their asthma:

Click here to view ORCHA’s review of the my mhealth suite of apps on our dedicated COVID-19 App Library.

Zephyr Guide app demonstration: 

Dr Micklewright explains why the Zephyr Guide app can be great to signpost patients to for their annual asthma reviews, especially when clinicians can’t actually see the patient. The app trains people to use their inhalers properly through a series of simple animations:

Click here to access ORCHA’s review of Zephyr Guide on our COVID-19 App Library.

Smart Peak Flow demonstration:

For his insight into another top-scoring asthma app, Dr Micklewright demonstrates how the Smart Peak Flow app uses a smaller peak flow device to record peak flow in the app, via Bluetooth, or by connecting to the phone jack of a mobile device. The app allows users to monitor their peak flow over time, and gives recommendations based on their peak flow data:

Click here to read ORCHA’s review of Smart Peak Flow on the COVID-19 App Library.

ORCHA COVID-19 App Formulary: 

Where can patients and health & care workers find asthma apps to help during the COVID-19 crisis? Dr Micklewright explains how ORCHA’s free COVID-19 App Library provides a helpful resource for accessing key apps during the pandemic:

We’ve had some wonderful feedback following our previous blog posts in relation to COVID-19, and we’re so glad to learn that some of our messages are helping people in this time of crisis.

However, we want to do more to support those on the front line, and, as such, we are running a series of webinars in the upcoming weeks. The aim of these webinars is to help health and care workers learn about which apps can provide the best support to their vulnerable communities, and how to recommend them to patients and service users.

Click here or click on the banner below to sign up for our next free webinar, which will be held on Tuesday 7th April 2020 from 11:00-12:00 BST.