Program Overview

Unit Overview

The unit PHTY615 - Clinical Exercise for Health and Performance Across the Lifespan is designed to equip students with advanced skills to identify health-related factors affecting specific populations and to design and deliver effective physical activity and exercise programs that enhance health, wellbeing, and sports performance in varied environments.

Unit Rationale, Description, and Aim

Physiotherapists possess in-depth knowledge of pathology and are well equipped to assess and manage individuals with chronic conditions, co-morbidities, and those engaged in sport and exercise for health and wellbeing. Building on PHTY614 and prior learning, this unit explores current evidence on the pathology, prevention, and management of chronic disease. Students will develop and implement evidence-informed physical activity programs tailored to diverse populations across the lifespan.

Learning Outcomes

To successfully complete this unit, students will be able to:

• Acquire and interpret information on the effects of sedentary behaviour, inactivity, and physical activity, including exercise on health, wellbeing, and sport performance for people with chronic disease or co-morbidities and people of all ages, cultures, and abilities who participate in sport and exercise for health and wellbeing, in diverse environments.
• Critically analyse and synthesise advanced knowledge and skills for the assessment of health, wellbeing, sports, and exercise performance for people of all ages, cultures, abilities, and health status across diverse environments.
• Design strategies for delivering culturally safe and effective health care with respect to individual and cultural and linguistic diversity in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and peoples of other Indigenous background and culture.
• Design, implement, conduct, and reflect on evidence-based physical activity and exercise programs for rehabilitation and to optimise health, wellbeing, and sports performance for people of all ages, cultures, genders, abilities, and health status across diverse environments.

Unit Content

Topics will include:

• Exercise for optimising health, well-being, sports, and performance that is incorporating physical activity, inactivity, and sedentary behaviour: benefits, risks, guidelines, prescribing, and motivating, enhancing self-management strategies for optimising health and psychological considerations.
• For people with chronic disease and conditions (including long COVID, chronic pain, mental health, cancer, diabetes, obesity, cardiovascular/cardiorespiratory, neurological, orthopaedic, rheumatological, osteoporosis, and osteoarthritis).
• For Aboriginal and Torres Island Peoples and peoples of other Indigenous background and cultural identities.
• For specific sporting populations including: children, adolescents, and the ageing athlete, the female athlete, athletes with disabilities, the male athlete, the transgender, gender diverse, and non-binary athlete, people exercising in extreme environments or sports, and the tired athlete.

Assessment Strategy and Rationale

This unit uses standards-based assessment aligned with University requirements to support achievement of learning outcomes and development of graduate capabilities. The strategy integrates work-integrated learning and evaluates students' ability to apply knowledge in professional contexts.

Assessment 1: Patient/Athlete Education Resource Development

Students create an infographic and instructional video to educate a patient/athlete with chronic or complex conditions, demonstrating knowledge translation of exercise principles.

Assessment 2: Pre-recorded Oral Presentation

An oral presentation assesses students' ability to critically evaluate and communicate advanced exercise programming for a specific sporting population to a multidisciplinary audience.

Assessment 3: Professional Practice Experience Placement (Graded Hurdle)

A professional practice experience involving 40 hours of supervised placement, mentoring, and case reflections. Students are assessed on their ability to apply clinical reasoning and reflective practice in diverse settings. Performance is evaluated by a University-assigned Professional Practice Educator.

Learning and Teaching Strategy and Rationale

This unit adopts an active learning approach to support students in exploring essential knowledge in the discipline. Students engage with a variety of online learning activities, including readings, recorded lectures, discussion forums, tutorials, and practicals. Asynchronous discussions and optional synchronous sessions encourage students to share examples, apply concepts, and collaborate with peers. Regular feedback supports progress and reflection.

Representative Texts and References

• American College of Sports Medicine. (2023). ACSM's Guidelines for Exercise Testing and Prescription (12th edition). Wolters Kluwer.
• Brukner, P., and Khan, K. (2019). Clinical sports medicine (5th edition): Volume 2: The medicine of exercise. McGraw-Hill.
• Brukner, P., and Khan, K. (2025). Clinical sports medicine (6th edition): Managing Injuries. Sydney: McGraw-Hill.
• Cameron, M., Selig, S., and Hemphill, D. (2011). Clinical exercise: A case-based approach. Churchill Livingstone
• Coombes, J., and Skinner, T. (2022).ESSA's Student Manual for Health, Exercise and Sport Assessment (2nd edition). Elsevier Australia.

Unit Details

• Credit Points: 10
• Year: 2026
• Locations: Online