Sport Therapy and Rehabilitation

What does it mean to be at the cutting edge of science? Evidence-based practice is the idea of making professional decisions based on what is proven to be effective. But how do we know if something is really ‘effective’? The answer is through scientific research.

Using examples of contemporary scientific research across the fields of sports performance, therapy and rehabilitation, and health, you’ll compare different methods of scientific testing. You’ll also determine what we consider ‘best practice’ and examine the challenges and limitations associated with conducting research with human participants.

You’ll get to grips with research terminology, start to understand how research studies are designed, and discover how data can be analysed. You’ll learn to dissect information, determine what is credible evidence and gain an understanding of the implications and impact of research findings in an applied context. Practical and seminar sessions will provide hands-on experience in conducting applied research and effectively communicating scientific information and results to drive improvements in sport and exercise science as a field.

Understanding human anatomy and movement is key to injury rehabilitation. Your study of anatomy will focus on the key regions of the lower limbs, upper limbs, spine and thorax, and you’ll learn to identify the associated bones, joints, soft tissue structures, muscles and nerves of each of these regions. Through the practice of palpation, you’ll also be able to identify key anatomical landmarks in the body.

Throughout the module, your lecturers will emphasise functional anatomy through sporting movement and injury. After finishing the module, you’ll be able to apply your knowledge of human anatomy to your role as a sports therapy and rehabilitation practitioner.

Have you ever wondered why your ankle throbs after injury, or why we're told to ‘ice and elevate’? Have you ever asked yourself which injuries are most common, and why? In this module, you'll learn about what goes on beneath the skin, the physiology of the human healing process, and the body’s response to musculoskeletal injury. 

You'll look at ways we can enhance healing using evidence-based therapeutic interventions such as electrotherapy, ice or heat, and you will learn to treat and manage different injuries based on their location and tissue type. You'll discover the latest evidence in this field, and examine data to understand why certain injuries may be more common in some sports than others and how they can be prevented or treated. 

The skills you learn in this module will give you the knowledge to identify musculoskeletal injuries and initiate the patient treatment process, which is essential for a career in sports therapy and rehabilitation.

Do you want to learn how to give an effective sports massage? Start a journey that could change your life by applying the fundamentals of sports massage. You will learn about the dos and don'ts of setting up a sports massage practice, how to communicate with your client, how to ask the right questions and plan and carry out a full-body sports massage. Additionally, you will explore how to adapt massage techniques for various needs and health conditions.

You’ll get plenty of practical, hands-on experience and learn how to combine several different massage and stretching techniques. You’ll also integrate what you have learned about anatomy and physiology, and physical assessment skills, which you can then apply in a professional context to treat individual clients throughout your career in sports massage therapy.

How do you know what injury an athlete has sustained? As part of this module, one of your first tasks will be to perform a clinical assessment, which is a carefully structured examination of the body to gain information about what could potentially be wrong. 

You'll learn how to conduct this logically and methodically, concentrating on the main joints of the upper and lower limbs as well as the spine. You'll find out how to assess joint range of movement, strength, and ligamentous stability and learn how and when to apply tests to help identify the structure(s) at fault. 

Throughout the module, you'll develop skills in problem-solving and clinical reasoning, through the process of asking questions which will help guide your subsequent clinical assessment. This will give you the professional tools to assess clients with a variety of needs and help them on the first step towards recovery.

Do you want to know how your body's physiological systems work, and how your body responds and adapts to exercise? And do you want to be to plan and deliver effective exercise sessions to help other people understand their own body's physiological systems?

In this module, you’ll learn and discuss exercise physiology, human movement and training principles. The teaching is based on a practical approach to movement analysis, common exercises and movement patterns. You’ll develop your practical skills and build confidence in delivering, designing and planning effective exercise sessions. The knowledge you gain will provide the foundation for the remainder of your degree, as well as setting you up for an exciting and successful career.

What does it take to be a well-rounded scientist in the fields of sport and exercise performance, therapy and rehabilitation, and health? How would you go about designing a study, collecting the data, and analysing the results? How will the knowledge you develop improve our understanding?

In this module, you’ll gain an understanding of research methods typically used in a sport and exercise and/or a therapy and rehabilitation setting. You’ll develop the ability to select, employ and interpret statistics in your research. This knowledge is central to being an effective sports scientist, sports therapist or rehabilitator. 

By the end of this module, you’ll understand the fundamentals of forming a feasible and appropriate study. You’ll also have the tools and techniques you’ll need to conduct independent research in the final year of your degree.

Once you have identified an injury and the bodily structure(s) involved, a sports therapy and rehabilitation practitioner needs to deliver appropriate treatment to restore normal movement and function. Manual therapy is the art and science of skilled hand movements and mobilisations for therapeutic effect.

You’ll learn the key concepts and theories that underpin manual therapy techniques and put them into practice alongside other complementary therapeutic modalities such as taping. One of the most common presentations that you are likely to see as a qualified practitioner is injury to the spine. You’ll therefore focus on the spine and associated spinal pathology so that you are confident in managing common spiral injuries. You’ll also acquire essential skills in relevant manual therapy interventions. These skills are essential to you in starting a career in sports therapy.

Global healthcare systems are increasingly challenged by populations living longer and living in poor health. What if some health conditions could be easily prevented before they were diagnosed?

You’ll attempt to answer this question and provide solutions, deepening your understanding of the role physical activity and other lifestyle factors play in the prevention of a range of chronic cardiovascular, respiratory, metabolic and mental health conditions.

You will be able to identify key risk factors, explain the physiological underpinning for how conditions develop, and explore how physical activity can be employed in the prevention and pre-clinical management of these conditions. Using evidence-based practice, you’ll tailor physical activity for the benefit of different conditions, whilst considering some of the key contraindications and concurrent health challenges that pre-clinical populations may face. Finally, you will evaluate current public health messaging and guidance for target audiences, and apply your own knowledge and the latest research to develop guidance, resources and solutions of your own.

Rehabilitation is an essential and highly effective skill for any sports therapy practitioner. You will learn the core principles of rehabilitation such as how to improve strength, range of motion, flexibility, power, speed and agility. These are all principles that are applied when evaluating every athlete and individual you work with, whether the aim is reducing pain or return to sport after injury. 

You’ll implement the principles of rehabilitation in each stage of injury and discover how you can adapt exercises according to the specific injury, its stage in the healing process, and the nature of the sport involved. After finishing the module, you’ll have the fundamental tools to make appropriate and evidence-based judgements to support injury recovery. You’ll be able to use these in future modules, within practical and work placement opportunities and your future career.

What are the steps needed to take an athlete from the moment of injury to a return to their sport? This module will show you how to apply your knowledge of anatomy, physiology, clinical evaluation and rehabilitation to specific injuries.

You’ll consider the structures of injuries you’re likely to frequently encounter, assess and manage in rehabilitation when working with injured individuals. You’ll formulate sport-specific rehabilitation programmes for athletes and individuals for the duration of their injury journey, from the first day of initial injury and acute management through to key rehabilitation stages.

By the time you finish this module, you’ll be able to develop evidence-based and end-to-end rehabilitation plans for an athlete, supporting their ongoing care and minimising re-injury by assessing when they are physically and mentally ready to return to sport.

Sport and physical activity is for everyone, and the way we choose to participate and perform changes through our life course.

When it comes to physical activity and sport, there is no ‘one size fits all’, and diverse guidelines exist to meet the specific needs of children, youth, females, pregnancy, disability, adults and older adults.

Each week you will examine a different life course stage, and you will consider specific physical activity and training modifications that can be applied to maximise health, fitness and performance potential according to individual goals and needs. You’ll explore the physiological, biological and psychosocial changes we all experience throughout our lives and learn how to consider these when we are working with people from all stages of their own lives.

Upon completion, you'll be equipped to provide relevant and tailored recommendations to individuals to support health improvement, training for performance, and lifelong participation. Improving your ability as a practitioner and supporting more people getting involved in sport for health.

Clinical practice is key to becoming a confident and competent sports therapy and rehabilitation practitioner. This module will integrate your academic knowledge and skills into professional patient-facing experience.

Under supervision from staff, you’ll encounter real-life patients in our in-house student-led injury clinic, where you can put your clinical and rehabilitation skills into authentic practice, helping clients recover from injury and preventing future injuries.

You’ll have the opportunity to develop both professionally and personally as you build your skills. Accompanying lectures will focus on personal reflection and development, building your profile so that you have all the necessary professional tools to succeed in the industry after you graduate.

Research into sports therapy and rehabilitation shapes current and future practice, and this module allows you to conduct research of your own by designing, conducting and completing an extended project on a specialist topic of sports therapy and rehabilitation. You’ll put the skills you’ve developed during your studies into practice, and comprehensively engage in a topic that you’re interested in and passionate about.

After identifying an appropriate research question, you’ll expand your knowledge by forming a search strategy, reviewing the literature and critically evaluating the current body of research. You’ll apply your understanding of research methods to designing an experimental approach and collecting data which you can analyse, present and report in scientific communications. You’ll be supported by lectures that cover the planning, management and dissemination of the project. However, a majority of the learning experience will be led by you, with support from a project supervisor.

Your supervisor will advise you on methodology, analysis and presentation, and will create an environment which will cultivate independent work and thinking. The qualities and skills that you develop during your dissertation will set you up for postgraduate study or a career as an evidence-based sports rehabilitation practitioner.

A critical role for sports therapy and rehabilitation professionals is reducing the likelihood of injury for the athletes they support. In this module, you’ll cover risk factors for specific injuries and learn how to apply this knowledge to help reduce the risk of injury in different sports. As well as learning to analyse injury incidence data across different sports and injury types.

You’ll evaluate injury prevention models and injury prevention programmes using best practice and emerging research, including strategies for athletes to recover from training, matches and competitions. This will help you minimise injury risk for your clients and enhance their recovery so that they can perform at their best for longer.

Building on the experiences gained during the Clinical Practice and Professional Development module, you will integrate clinical reasoning and critical analysis skills to address more complex spinal and peripheral joint injuries within the in-house student-led injury clinic.

You will begin to master your skills in clinical assessment and patient handling whilst using more specialised and advanced rehabilitation equipment and techniques based upon the latest evidence-based research.

Throughout the module, emphasis will be placed on critical evaluation and reflection of your skills and your patient's rehabilitation journey, with a view to transforming you into a confident and competent autonomous practitioner ready to succeed in industry upon graduation.

Physical activity has an important function in the management of many clinical conditions. You’ll learn how the health, wellbeing and quality of life benefits of being active can help to manage, treat and even reverse some chronic conditions.

What kind of activities can clinical populations take part in? How can activities be adapted to make them safe and manageable? You’ll discover how to safely perform appropriate exercise tests, how to interpret test results and use them to develop suitable physical activity prescription based on disease specific guidelines and research evidence. You will explore innovative approaches to therapeutic exercise training for cardiovascular diseases, type-2 diabetes, cancer, and neurological disorders. Building on your prior knowledge, you’ll develop tailored exercise prescription which utilises principles of training, accommodates disease limitations and medications, and expand your thinking to address the bio-psychosocial and adherence challenges in clinical groups.

Why is strength and conditioning of key importance for athletic development and in maximising physical performance? Drawing on contemporary and traditional research, you will critically analyse the scientific principles of strength and conditioning, then apply those principles into practical coaching delivery.

You will consider and evaluate a range of contemporary and traditional training approaches, to determine best practice for a range of athletes across different sports. Finally, you will consider how coaching skills and delivery styles could impact athlete development and reflect on your coaching delivery to optimise effectiveness and develop sector-wide professional skills.

How do we prepare athletes to succeed at the very top level of sport? You will evaluate and integrate various testing and monitoring approaches with different populations and interpret that data to determine an optimal programming approach.

You will consider the technical models for compound and Olympic lifting modalities, and critically analyse the effects of biomechanical deviations on performance. Programming and coaching adjustments for a range of different populations will be considered. Finally, you will apply best practice in coaching delivery, and reflect on your own delivery of training programme, in an applied setting, to build transferable professional skills to help you launch your career.

Why do some athletes bounce back faster from injury and rehabilitation compared to others? Why is mental health and wellbeing talked about so much in sport? Why is it important for sports rehabilitators to understand and be aware of the psychological responses to injury and rehabilitation?

You will learn about psychological and emotional responses to sports injuries and chronic conditions. You will also learn about implementing psychological interventions to support athletes and clients with psychological responses to injury and rehabilitation. The psychological skills you will practice and learn about are important, as these will help you to develop into a fully-rounded practitioner using multi-dimensional approaches to rehabilitation, so you can step into your career ready to succeed and make a real different to people’s lives.

Do you want to take your massage skills to the next level? You will build on your sports massage skills and learn to adapt soft tissue techniques to a wide range of people with injuries or life-long conditions.

You master a range of advanced techniques such as Myofascial Release, Soft Tissue Release, Neuromuscular Techniques, Kinesio Taping, Trigger point techniques, tool-assisted massage and Scar tissue techniques.

You will learn how to apply these soft tissue approaches in an integrated and effective manner, to support your client's recovery, to improve movement and reduce pain, and promote return to an active life, exercise and training.