September 8 marks World PT Day 2021. The theme for this year is rehabilitation for long COVID.

The start of the pandemic saw many physiotherapists step up to provide high-quality clinical care to manage the respiratory symptoms of COVID-19 as well as adapting to contactless practice using technologies like telehealth for other patient groups. With the introduction of vaccines, physiotherapists in many parts of the world developed new skills so they could contribute to the vaccine rollout and so reduce the impact of COVID-19 in their communities.

While many people return to their normal health after COVID-19, some experience long COVID symptoms for 12 months or more. Long COVID has over 200 symptoms, including respiratory and neural impairments, but the symptoms are not the same for everyone. Physiotherapists are now playing a crucial role in the treatment of long COVID because of their expertise in rehabilitation. Rehabilitation can involve individually prescribed exercise programs.

PEDro indexes high-quality clinical research that physiotherapists can use to inform practice during the pandemic, including respiratory management for COVID-19, rehabilitation for long COVID, and providing contactless treatment for a range of conditions. You can browse this evidence using this link https://bit.ly/38hrBX5.

Last month in the “You Ask #PEDroAnswers” campaign we showed PEDro users how to perform an Advanced Search to answer the clinical question “In people experiencing post-COVID-19 syndrome, does aerobic exercise improve exercise tolerance more than watchful waiting?” You can view the video at https://bit.ly/3DmShnC.

Later this month we will be releasing a summary of the rapid review by Goodwin et al (2021) that found that rehabilitation could enable recovery from COVID-19. You can access the review on PEDro and watch a 5-minute interview with the lead author.