Why are rehab goals important?
Patients visit physiotherapists for many different reasons. Often, it’s to relieve pain or recover from a sports-related injury. But sometimes, an acute injury—like an ankle sprain or a sore back—becomes a recurring issue. Over time, patients learn what activities trigger their pain and may begin avoiding them altogether.
As physios, our first question is usually:
“What brings you in today?”
What Happens during an initial consultation?
Lots of talking!
Your physio will ask plenty of questions and carefully listen to your story. We want to understand:
- How your injury occurred
- What you have (or haven’t) done to recover
- Which activities you want to return to
- When you’d like to return to them
- How much time you can realistically dedicate to your recovery
After that, we perform a physical assessment—looking at your movement, testing your strength, and examining muscles, tendons, and joints. We connect these findings to your story to get the full picture.
From here, we can estimate how long your recovery may take, what treatments are likely to help, how many sessions you’ll need, and how often we should see you.
We create your treatment plan together. For some injuries, this is a quick conversation. For others, the plan might be broken down into several stages.
By the end of your first session, we usually have a clear long-term goal in mind. It’s then our job to set short- and medium-term goals to keep you motivated and on track toward recovery.
What are rehab goals?
- Short-term goals are set from one session to the next. They might be as simple as doing one exercise daily so we can build on it at your next appointment.
- Medium-term goals take a few weeks to achieve. They’re usually smaller components of your overall recovery goal.
- Long-term goals are your big-picture outcomes—returning to sport, overcoming pain-related fears, or maintaining a consistent exercise routine.
Why are rehab goals important?
Rehab goals help you stay motivated. They give you something to aim for—and hitting those milestones feels good!
They also help us as physios. Goals allow us to track your progress, make adjustments when needed, and celebrate improvements with you.
When we set clear goals and achieve them together, your confidence in our skills grows, and we both feel proud of your recovery journey.
Whether you have a simple injury with one clear goal or a more complex condition that requires several steps, setting meaningful, individualized rehab goals is key. It ensures a more successful, engaging, and rewarding physio experience for both patient and physio.
Contact us now to book an appointment with one of our expert physiotherapists.
Learn how Physiotherapy can support you!