HSC6003 Health and Ageing

Director of Health and Social Sciences (HSS) Cluster at Singapore Institute of Technology. Prof Alan has a long and distinguished career as a clinician, manager and academic. He leads the professionalism and ethics strand of the HSS allied health programmes. He is a member of the Allied Health Professions Council.

Dr Peter Tay is a researcher and educator with a history of working in academic and healthcare sectors across diverse settings including prisons, mental hospital, secondary schools and institutes of higher learning. His research integrates psychological perspectives to understand how cognitive and behavioural processes affect physical and mental health. His recent studies examined perceptions about falls and caregiving styles relating to aging. Currently, Dr Tay conducts mixed-methods research to examine psychosocial factors associated with ageing and evaluates various community interventions aimed to improve the wellbeing of older adults, particularly those with cognitive impairment and their caregivers. Dr Tay has taught undergraduate and postgraduate courses, and conducted talks and research methods workshops which are attended by employees in corporate settings, researchers, healthcare workers and policy makers.

Bernadine is a Senior Lecturer in Physiotherapy at the Singapore Institute of Technology and teaches in the undergraduate physiotherapy programme. She holds a Master in Geriatric Physiotherapy and a PhD from the prestigious University of Queensland in Australia. She has a special interest in physiotherapy with older adults, particular those with falls, frailty, stroke, and dementia. This module is led by her extensive academic background and her clinical experience, which spans over a decade.

Shawn Soh Leng Hsien is a Assistant Professor within the Health and Social Sciences (HSS) Cluster and is heavily involved in academia, research, and professional practice. He has over twenty years of physiotherapy experience and is dedicated to advancing ortho-geriatric practices.

Here's a summary of his notable roles, contributions, and achievements:

Academic and Education Roles: Shawn serves as a Senior Lecturer within the Health and Social Sciences Cluster, where he teaches various subjects related to physiotherapy, including musculoskeletal physiotherapy, manual therapy, exercise rehabilitation, and geriatric physiotherapy. He is also the Year 2 Physiotherapy Coordinator. Shawn engages with undergraduate and postgraduate students, sharing his expertise in physiotherapy and related topics. He earned his Master's in Manipulative Physiotherapy from the University of Queensland (Australia) and a PhD from Queen Margaret University (UK).

Editorial Positions: Shawn is actively involved in scholarly publications. He serves on the editorial board of the Journal of Frailty, Sarcopenia, and Falls. Additionally, he acts as a co-editor for a special topic titled "Insights into Falls Efficacy and Fear of Falling" under the Frontiers in Aging and Psychology journal. He is an invited peer-reviewer for over ten international journals and continues to do his best to help advance topic-relevant practices.

Research Contributions: Shawn has made significant contributions to physiotherapy research. He developed the Balance Recovery Confidence Scale, the world's first measurement instrument for assessing balance recovery confidence in older adults. This scale aims to gauge perceived reactive balance recovery abilities, providing a deeper understanding of the concept of fall efficacy.  Together with Dr Audrey Lim and physiotherapy academic colleagues, he started Singapore's first physiotherapy standardised patient program at Nanyang Polytechnic. He was also the physiotherapy lead for a multicentre project headed by A/P Liaw Sok Ying to develop Singapore's first virtual reality simulation programme to promote interprofessional learning among healthcare students.

Ongoing Research Interests: Shawn's research interests focus on providing evidence on the psychometric properties of fall efficacy-related measurement instruments and the effectiveness of related interventions. He has led or co-led completed projects totalling over a million dollars, indicating the significance and scale of his research endeavours.

Professional Practice: Shawn holds the position of Visiting Associate Academician at Singhealth. He is a lifetime member of the Singapore Physiotherapy Association and currently chairs the SPA Community SIG (Singapore). He is deeply involved in the Asian Falls network, connecting researchers and clinical experts to advance fall practice. He is also the Founder of Falls Efficacy.com.