TELE-REHABILITATION EDUCATION AND TRAINING: PREPARING PHYSIOTHERAPY PROFESSIONALS FOR COMPETENT DIGITAL PRACTICE

Abstract

Tele-rehabilitation has progressed from being an emergency substitute for in-person care to a structured component of contemporary rehabilitation programs. For physiotherapy, this change has created an educational responsibility: students and clinicians must be trained not only to use technology but also to reason clinically, communicate effectively, protect confidentiality, and make safe decisions when assessments and interventions are conducted at a distance. This chapter discusses tele-rehabilitation education and training as a competency-based process in modern physiotherapy practice. It explains the need for curriculum integration, identifies core competencies, and outlines teaching-learning strategies such as e-learning, simulation, supervised teleconsultation, reflective practice and hybrid clinical exposure. The chapter also describes assessment methods, including observed tele-health encounters, case-based evaluations, digital professionalism checklists and patient safety scenarios. Ethical, legal, equity, and accessibility concerns are emphasized because tele-rehabilitation can improve access while also widening digital exclusion. A structured training model is recommended to prepare physiotherapists for safe, evidence-informed, and person-centered digital rehabilitation.