Information on physical activity and exercise for older people
About Us
The Safe Exercise at Home team includes physiotherapists from around Australia and a communications expert.
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Associate Professor Cathy Said
University of Melbourne
Associate Professor Cathy Said PhD, BAppSc (Physio) is the inaugural Associate Professor Physiotherapy, Western Health and The University of Melbourne and is a project director at the Australian Institute for Musculoskeletal Science. Her research focuses on rehabilitation of gait and balance disorders in older people with complex health conditions and people with neurological disorders. She has over 25 years experience working in neurological and aged care rehabilitation.
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Professor Cathie Sherrington
Sydney Musculoskeletal Health and Institute for Musculoskeletal Health
University of Sydney, Sydney Local Health District, Northern Sydney Local Health District
Professor Cathie Sherrington FAHMS, FACP, PhD, MPH, BAppSc (Physio) is a research professor and NHMRC Senior Research Fellowship holder at the School of Public Health and Institute for Musculoskeletal Health, University of Sydney/Sydney Local Health District where she leads the Physical Activity, Ageing and Disability Research Stream. Her research focuses on the design and evaluation of falls prevention and exercise interventions for older people and those with disabilities. She has authored 248 refereed journal articles, including reports of 32 clinical trials and 17 systematic reviews, and has been a Chief Investigator on NHMRC grants totalling over $19 million. She was also one of the founders of PEDro, the Physiotherapy Evidence Database. Prior to completing a PhD and Masters of Public Heath, Cathie was a physiotherapist in aged care and rehabilitation settings.
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Professor Keith Hill
Monash University
Professor Keith Hill is Director of a new research centre at Monash University (Rehabilitation, Ageing and Independent Living (RAIL) Research Centre), since July 2019. He is a physiotherapist and senior researcher, with 40 years clinical experience in rehabilitation and aged care, and an extensive recent track record in implementing and completing a broad range of research programs for older people in the community, hospital and residential aged care settings. He is most well known for his research in areas of falls prevention, rehabilitation, physical activity/exercise, and assessment of physical performance. He has over $AUD27million research funding as a chief investigator, and over 300 publications. He has a strong focus on inter-disciplinary research, and has current or recent research collaborations in Singapore, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Canada and Brazil.
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Associate Professor Michele Callisaya
Monash University
Menzies Institute for Medical Research, University of Tasmania
Peninsula Health, Victoria
Associate Professor Michele Callisaya PhD, BAppSc (Physio) is a senior research fellow and physiotherapist at the National Centre for Healthy Ageing, Peninsula Health, Monash University and the University of Tasmania. She has over 25 years of clinical experience in the area of aged care and rehabilitation. Her research focuses on reducing falls in those with cognitive impairment and improving the quality of care provided to people with dementia
Click here for more information about Michele: Monash University and University of Tasmania.
Associate Professor Frances Batchelor
National Ageing Research Institute (NARI)
Associate Professor Frances Batchelor PhD, MHlthSt, Grad Dip Ed (Sport Sc), BAppSc (Physio) is a Principal Research Fellow and Director of Clinical Gerontology at the National Ageing Research Institute (NARI). She is a physiotherapist with over 30 years of clinical experience in rehabilitation, aged care and neurology. At NARI she is also a Research Lead for the Melbourne Ageing Research Collaboration, a NARI led initiative that brings together 18 partners from universities, aged care providers, primary care, advocacy groups and peak bodies and with support from the Victorian Department of Health and Human Services. Her research focuses on falls prevention, balance and gait assessment and management, physical activity, the role of technology in ageing and improving health services for older people.
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Professor Anne-Marie Hill
University of Western Australia
Professor Anne-Marie Hill (PhD) is Senior Principal Research Fellow in the School of Allied Health and WA Centre for Health & Ageing at The University of Western Australia. Her research interests are in improving older people’s health and well-being. Professor Hill holds an NHMRC EL2 Investigator (2020-25) grant focusing on fall prevention and was previously awarded an NHMRC early career fellowship also for fall prevention (2012-15). Professor Hill has obtained over $11.5 M in research funding and has over 140 peer reviewed publications. She is a titled Gerontological physiotherapist, awarded by the Australian Physiotherapy Association, and has over 30 years clinical experience working with older people. Professor Hill has led large clinical trials in hospital, community and residential care settings and collaborates with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander researchers and communities, focusing on physical activity programs for older Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in WA.
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Rik Dawson
Sydney Musculoskeletal Health and Institute for Musculoskeletal Health
University of Sydney, Sydney Local Health District, Northern Sydney Local Health District
Rik Dawson graduated from Sydney University in 1993 and after working in paediatrics switched to aged care in 1998.
Rik is a titled Gerontological Physiotherapist and is a Director for the Australian Physiotherapy Association. Until recently Rik owned and operated Agewell Physiotherapy for over 20 years and employed physiotherapists and Occupational Therapists to work in residential care, home care and NDIS.
Rik is completing his PhD in community aged care with The School of Public Health at the University of Sydney.
Associate Professor Shylie Mackintosh
University of South Australia
Associate Professor Shylie Mackintosh is Dean of Programs: Allied Health, within University of South Australia Allied Health and Human Performance, where she divides her time between teaching, administration and research. She is a Physiotherapist with over 30 years of experience teaching mostly related to adult rehabilitation and research methods. Her research expertise lies broadly with the prevention of falls in older people and people with stroke, exercise therapy as a rehabilitation tool, and clinical biomechanics.
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Dr Stephanie Fu
Ageing Balance
Mater Health Services Brisbane
University of Queensland
Dr. Stephanie Fu FACP, PhD, MPhty, BPhty is the first and currently only specialist gerontological physiotherapist awarded by the Australian College of Physiotherapists and Director of Ageing Balance. She also works at Mater Health services and is a sessional academic at the University of Queensland. With over 18 years of clinical and research-based experience, she is one of the leading specialists in 50+ care. A regular international, national and state invited speaker in regards to structuring and implementing innovative fall prevention programs and balance training for health and well-being for women in the menopause transition.
Dr. Fu has been awarded 10 national and international awards for her research in Women’s Health and early Falls Prevention. She has acted as research advisor on a Commonwealth funded fall prevention initiative. A program so successful that it has been implemented across South East Queensland, nationally and abroad. She has previously acted as the National President of the Gerontology Group within the Australian Physiotherapy Association and Queensland president of Australian Association of Gerontology. She is currently the Australian representative for the International Association of Physical Therapists working with Older People (IPTOP) and Chair of the Gerontological Professional Practice standard committee. Dr. Fu’s research focuses on falls prevention, community rehabilitation, menopause transition, healthy ageing, exercise design and prescription, and video game rehabilitation.
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Courtney West
Sydney Musculoskeletal Health and Institute for Musculoskeletal Health
University of Sydney, Sydney Local Health District, Northern Sydney Local Health District
Courtney West has worked with the Safe Exercise at Home team to design and develop the website. She continues to manage and update the website. She has presented about the website at the Australian Public Health Conference 2020 and the Australian and New Zealand Falls Prevention Conference 2021.
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Courtney West, BSc (Health) and MHC, is a Research Assistant at the Institute for Musculoskeletal Health (IMH), University of Sydney/Sydney Local Health District, where she works in the Physical Activity, Ageing and Disability Research Stream, the PEDro Partnership (Physiotherapy Evidence Database) and is a member of the IMH Media and Communications Portfolio. She has had experience in website design and website/social media content development at the IMH, and in areas within Sydney Local Health District and South Eastern Sydney Local Health District.
Special thanks
The team would also like to say a special thanks to everyone who contributed to the website. This includes:
Dr Nancy Latham
Brigham and Women's Hospital, Canada
Harvard Medical School, United States of America
Dr Nancy Latham is one of our international advisors for the Safe Exercise at Home website.
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Dr Nancy Latham, BSc(PT), PhD trained as a physiotherapist in Canada. She is currently the Clinical Director of Research in the Department of Men's Health, Aging and Metabolism at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and a Lecturer at Harvard Medical School in Boston, Massachusetts. Her research has focused on exercise and fall prevention in older people. Her work has been published in medical journals that include JAMA and the New England Journal of Medicine. She is a Fellow of the Gerontological Society of America and a member of the editorial board of American Physical Therapy Journal.
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Professor Sallie Lamb
University of Exeter, United Kingdom
Professor Sallie Lamb is one of our international advisors for the Safe Exercise at Home website.
Professor Sallie Lamb is the Mireille Gillings Professor for Health Innovation and the Associate Dean of Research at the University of Exeter in the UK. She is also an Honorary Professor at the Medicine and Health Faculty at the University of Sydney and an Honorary Departmental Professor at the Nuffield Department of Medicine at the University of Oxford. Sallie Lamb is an internationally recognised scholar in ageing, disability and rehabilitation. She is also an experienced methodologist in the area of clinical trials and high quality evaluation of health care practice. Sallie has a strong commitment to improving the lives of older people through excellent research that answers difficult questions and can inform policy making and commissioning. She works to ensure research is translated into practice and to drive up the quality of methods and reporting used in medical research.
Joost van Wijchen
HAN University of Applied Sciences, Netherlands
Joost van Wijchen is one of our international advisors for the Safe Exercise at Home website.
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Joost is a senior lecturer, educational designer, physiotherapist and health professional at the HAN University of Applied Sciences in Nijmegen, the Netherlands. Trained as a physiotherapist (sports and manual) in the Netherlands, Norway, nowadays a professional with a scope upon learning, reasoning, movement, humanities and (global) health. An advocate for physical activity, mental health and connection in European and Global context. Joost is an executive board member of European Network of Physiotherapy in Higher Education (ENPHE) and Environmental Physiotherapy Association (EPA). Joost is also an initiator and facilitator of QuaranTrain movement.
Kay Bodna
Kay Bodna is one of our consumer advisors for the Safe Exercise at Home wesbite.
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Kay's background is in social work and education. Since retiring she has served on the committees of a number of non-government organisations, and has written histories of two of those organisations.
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Kay was a volunteer ESL tutor at Swinburne for ten years. She has been a volunteer at Cabrini Hospital for eight years, where she writes biographies for patients in palliative care.
Professor Roberta Shepard
Professor Roberta Sherpard was one of our consumer advisors for the Safe Exercise at Home website.
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Professor Roberta Shepherd AO, FACP, DHScSydneyhonoris causa, EdDColumbia, MA, Dip Phty, graduated with a Diploma in Physiotherapy, Sydney 1956 and completed masters and doctoral degrees at Columbia University, New York from 1986 to 1991. Her awards included Fulbright and Rockefeller Scholarships. In 1992 she was appointed Foundation Chair of Physiotherapy, University of Sydney and currently holds a position as Honorary Professor of Physiotherapy, Faculty of Medicine and Health, University of Sydney. She was awarded an Order of Australia in 2018 and is a Fellow of the Australian College of Physiotherapists.
She has had extensive teaching experience over 45 years and has been invited or keynote speaker at over 35 physiotherapy, medical and neuroscience conferences in Australia and overseas. She has authored more than 70 research articles in physiotherapy, medical, biomechanics and neuroscience journals, 8 textbooks translated into several languages, and 15 book chapters. Research student supervision has involved undergraduate honours, masters and doctorate degrees.
Roberta’s major research interests continue to be in the movement sciences, including biomechanical studies of standing up and sitting down, and gait, and following stroke, head injury and in infants with cerebral palsy. Roberta has collaborated in teaching, writing and research with Professor Janet Carr since the 1960s until Janet died in 2014. Together with their colleagues she and Janet developed task- and context-specific exercise and training, applying principles of motor learning and the movement sciences, and there is now evidence that these are basic principles of rehabilitation. Currently Roberta is involved in investigations of physical fitness in middle-aged and older people.
Booklet translations
We would like to thank everyone who has contributed to the language translations of the Safe Exercise at Home booklet.
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Portuguese translation:
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Ms Ana Salles dos Reis (Departmento de Fisioterapia, Faculdade Ciências Médicas de Minas Gerais, Minas Gerais, Brazil)
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Dr Marina Pinheiro (Sydney Musculoskeletal Health at University of Sydney, Sydney Local Health District and Northern Sydney Local Health District; Institute for Musculoskeletal Health at University of Sydney and Sydney Local Health District, Australia)
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Dr Marcia Rodrigues Franco (Centro Universitário Una, Minas Gerais, Brazil)
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Dr Silvia Lanziotti (Departamento de Saúde Coletiva, Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade Federal de Juiz de Fora, Brazil)
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Ms Nayara Santos Silva (Departamento de Fisioterapia da Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais (UFMG), Minas Gerais, Brazil)
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Dr Monica Perracini (University City São Paulo–UNICID and State University Campinas-UNICAMP, Brazil)
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Bosnian translation:
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Ms Ima Strkljevic (Sydney Musculoskeletal Health at University of Sydney, Sydney Local Health District and Northern Sydney Local Health District; Institute for Musculoskeletal Health at University of Sydney and Sydney Local Health District, Australia)