A local physiotherapy clinic is offering a free sports-ready screening programme to schools.
Rehab Co, with one clinic located in the Hub in Botany and another in St John’s, is committed to aiding people in strengthening people’s health and wellbeing through physiotherapy.
Connor O’Driscoll and his business partner, Lauren, launched Rehab Co in April 1, 2019. “We had to navigate Covid-19 and lockdowns,” O’Driscoll says.
“We weren’t able to do appointments in person.”
Subsequently they started New Zealand’s first mobile treatment unit: a mobile physiotherapy clinic. The vans go off-site to schools, gyms, and workplaces to screen and treat patients, which Rehab Co can use in their sports-ready screening programme.
The programme helps identify if people have any faulty movement patterns, which gives them an idea of what their movement and function is like. “This can help us identify if their prone to any injuries,” O’Driscoll says.
The students, primarily sport students, go into the van and undergo a screening to see if there are any existing or past problems in their movements and health or if they’re prone to any injuries. The initial screening is free. School-aged kids can also go to their clinics in Botany and St John’s for the screenings.
“We find that kids, and physio as a service, people probably don’t understand how accessible it is and how to use it. Especially younger kids where they have an injury and it lingers around. ”
On top of the screenings, Rehab Co offers rehabilitation talks to schools.
“We want to educate those young because then they understand rather than having to play with a sore leg. It sets them up with the right tools for looking after their bodies and playing sport in a healthy lifestyle.”
Rehab Co currently has 20 physiotherapists and 5 mobile clinics.
“We want to help people move better and live a pain-free life.”
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