Sustainable Pain Care: Innovations, Integration & Future-Ready Physiotherapy Practice

Learning objectives

By the end of this symposium, participants will be able to:

1. Examine person-centred pain management strategies that reduce over-medicalisation and build long-term functional resilience in physiotherapy practice.

2. Evaluate digital, AI and wearable innovations that enable scalable, efficient pain rehabilitation with fewer clinic visits.

3. Discuss integrated anaesthesia–pain–rehabilitation pathways that optimise perioperative outcomes and prevent chronic pain transition.

4. Identify practical steps for physiotherapists to deliver sustainable, future-ready pain care across acute, subacute and community settings.

Symposium Convenor: Adj Asst Prof Prit Anand Singh Senior Consultant, Director Chronic Pain Management Service, Changi General Hospital

Biography: Adjunct Assistant Professor Prit Anand Singh is a Senior Consultant with extensive experience in pain management, musculoskeletal medicine and interdisciplinary care pathways. He has led programmes that integrate primary care, rehabilitation and specialist services to improve continuity and long-term outcomes for patients with complex pain. His work emphasises sustainable models of care, value-driven practice and capacity-building across professions. He contributes actively to national education and service transformation efforts, championing collaborative practice between medical, allied health and community partners.

Speaker: Ms Teo Yee Jean, Principal Physiotherapist, Singapore General Hospital

Title: Sustainable Person-Centred Pain Management in Clinical Practice

Biography: Ms Teo is a Principal Physiotherapist with extensive experience in managing complex musculoskeletal and persistent pain conditions. She integrates contemporary pain science, functional rehabilitation and patient-centred behavioural approaches into her clinical practice. Her work includes developing multidisciplinary pathways, leading clinical education and advancing sustainable, evidence-informed physiotherapy models within SGH's musculoskeletal and pain services.

Speaker: Adj Asst Prof Philip Cheong, Senior Principal Physiotherapist (Clinical), Director, Research, SingHealth Duke-NUS Sport and Exercise Medicine Centre, Director, Allied Health, SingHealth Duke-NUS Pain Centre, Singapore General Hospital

Title: Digital, AI and Wearable Innovations for Scalable Pain Rehabilitation

Biography: Adjunct Assistant Professor Philip Cheong is a Senior Principal Physiotherapist (Clinical) at Singapore General Hospital, where his work spans musculoskeletal physiotherapy, pain management, clinical research and innovation. He integrates clinical practice with applied translational science, focusing on AI-enabled physiotherapy, smart wearables, digital rehabilitation and sustainable models of care. He is involved in developing and evaluating emerging technologies, integrating data-informed approaches into clinical decision-making and exploring future-ready pathways that enhance access, efficiency and long-term outcomes. He has secured competitive funding to drive physiotherapy innovation and contributes to national efforts in advanced practice and rehabilitation transformation. His practice philosophy centers on delivering person-centered, evidence-informed and technology-enabled physiotherapy that supports resilience and long-term functional recovery.

Speaker: Dr Diana Chan, Pain Specialist, The Pain Clinic

Title: Integrated Anaesthesia–Pain–Rehabilitation Pathways: The Physiotherapist's Role

Biography: Dr Diana Chan is a pain medicine specialist with expertise in interventional pain management, perioperative optimisation and multimodal analgesia. She is involved in designing integrated pain pathways that bridge anaesthesia, acute pain services and rehabilitation to improve functional outcomes and reduce long-term reliance on high-burden interventions. Her clinical interests include sustainable analgesia strategies, enhanced recovery protocols and preventing the transition from acute to chronic pain through coordinated multidisciplinary care.