It all began with a referral, that led to a phone call, that turned into a meeting, that started a hunt, that led to the discovery of a new industry, that culminated in the making of a viral smash hit 90 second animated video.

And what was it all about?

The Future of Physiotherapy.

The challenge was set.

Look ahead to 2050 and with what we know of the industry’s yesterday and today, what might its tomorrow be.

What impacts will medical break throughs, technologies, robotics, changing demographics and an evolving world have on the profession?

Will physiotherapy still exist in 30 years?

Will there still be human physiotherapists?

What changes might forever alter the industry, practitioners and patients’ needs of it?

So, I set to work and:
• Researched the past and current physiotherapy industry and landscape – we currently have 25,396 Physio’s in Australia and will need 31,125 by 2040, to fulfill projected needs

• Spoke to experts inside and outside the industry – Physical Therapy is believed to have been started by Per Henrik Ling, “Father of Swedish Gymnastics, in 1813

• Visited labs and contacted relevant start-up’s and incubators.

• Reached out to my global industry and university tribes and the Einstein Global 100 alumni to see what they’re funding, working on and seeing, that may be relevant.

• Explored the human, societal, economic, political, environmental, governmental, global, cultural and ethical changes that may be ahead.

• Marvelled at the medical and allied health breakthroughs in genome design that might soon allow us to tweak and alter our DNA and chromosomes.

• Watched in amazement as robotic arms, manipulated remotely by dexterous puppet master doctors, operated skilfully within hospital theatres, on living humans.

• Gasped at the recent advancements in augmented, virtual and mixed reality that allow us to virtually peel away our skin and stare inside at our working body.

• Became besotted with the notion of digital twinning and what it might mean to the future of wellbeing and healthcare.

This new frontier will soon allow each of us to have an exact, inside and outside, real time, ever changing dynamic digital copy of ourselves on which to harmlessly pre-test medications and treatment options.

Amongst many mind blowing things your digital twin may do for you, will be its ability to guide practitioner’s to precise pain points within your body and empirically measure changes as interventions are applied.

• Pondered the future wear and tear points our physical body might face when we soon live to 120 and the changes that our evolving work, life and environmental landscapes might have on our physical body.
The answer to these and many other foresights made their way on to a very long list of what the future physiotherapy industry might evolve into.

Eventually it was whittled down to a list of 32 future opportunities, clustered into five categories, all hanging off 2 audacious meta trends.

The 32 opportunities and 5 categories are for the clients exclusive use, but I can share the 2 meta trends.

The second is that despite all the incredible technological, medical and robotic changes ahead, there will always be a need for qualified human physiotherapists – who will be doing (and not doing) very different things, in very different ways, to achieve the same core outcomes.

And the first, that the physiotherapy industry will soon transition out of its roots of rehabilitation into the brand new treatment direction of Prehabilitation – preventing issues from ever occurring.

Cue the jaw dropping horizon of new possibilities, new treatments’ and new business models and the perennial question of “if, how and when” to transition.

To ensure maximum industry engagement around these possible future scenarios my client commissioned the most glorious 90 second animated video, that 100% lives up to the adage of “a picture paints a thousand words”, so take a look at the future.

Now, not every foresight project, strategy session, program or workshop ends in an incredible video that is globally launched to 1 million subscribers, but each ends knowing significantly more about the possibilities of where that industry, business or product is headed.

Each includes an abundance of provocative future possibilities, as well as timelines and recommendations for the careful deliberate changes that you might make today, tomorrow and the many days after, to position yourself perfectly to take first advantage of whatever future opportunities may be waiting up ahead for you.

I wonder what possibilities we could discover together in your future?