Developed at RECOVER by Prof. Michele Sterling and Dr Rachel Elphinston, StressModex (Stress Modulation + Exercise) is a physiotherapist-delivered cognitive behavioural intervention for acute whiplash injuries that targets stress to reduce pain. This approach could be effective for patients with more severe orthopaedic injuries like broken bones after a road traffic crash, as psychological distress is common after these injuries and contributes to ongoing pain and disability.
A new project, StressModex for Inpatient Care Following Orthopaedic Road Trauma, will develop an adapted version of StressModex for delivery by physiotherapists in orthopaedic wards.
This work is funded by the Motor Accident Insurance Commission (MAIC) through a MAIC Innovative Research Action Award (MIRAA) and is scheduled to run through mid-2027.
Have you experienced a broken bone from a road traffic accident? Or are you a family member or carer of someone who has?
We need your help to co-design an inpatient physiotherapy treatment approach.
The Project
We are adapting a physiotherapy treatment that combines exercise with stress reduction to a hospital ward setting. We need input from patients and families/carers to ensure our adapted treatment would work in this setting.
Who can participate
We are looking for:
- People who have had a broken bone in a road traffic accident that required a stay in hospital, and/or
- Family members or carers of someone who has had such an injury
Benefits
You will be paid $234 for each attended workshop
What is involved?
- 5 x 2-hour co-design workshops, each about 3 weeks apart
- Attendance can be in-person or online
- Workshops will involve group discussion on how to best adapt a physiotherapy treatment approach from an 'outpatient' clinic setting to an 'inpatient' hospital ward setting
Get involved
For more information or to register your interest, contact:
Dr Scott Farrell at scott.farrell@uq.edu.au or Dr Jessica Formosa at j.formosa@uq.edu.au
Download the recruitment flyer (PDF, 176.8 KB)
This project has been approved by Metro North Human Research Ethics Committee [Approval No. HREC/2025/MNH/118626].
In Stage 1 of this research program, we held a Foundational Stakeholder Consultation with consumers, clinicians, health service managers, and insurers. This identified priority areas the adaptation must address for StressModex to be feasible in an orthopaedic ward, which is a very different clinical setting to an outpatient physiotherapy clinic.
Co-design of the adapted StressModex intervention (Stage 2 of the ongoing program of research) will involve input from consumers, clinicians, health service managers and insurers.
Principal Investigator:
Dr Scott Farrell
Research Fellow, The University of Queensland RECOVER Injury Research Centre
Co-investigators:
Prof Michele Sterling
Professor and Program Leader, The University of Queensland RECOVER Injury Research Centre
Dr Rachel Elphinston
Senior Research Fellow, The University of Queensland RECOVER Injury Research Centre
Dr Christopher Papic
Research Fellow, The University of Queensland RECOVER Injury Research Centre
Dr Yanfei Xie
Research Fellow, The University of Queensland RECOVER Injury Research Centre
Dr Andrew Foster
Clinical Research Fellow, Jamieson Trauma Institute, Metro North Health
Andrew Statham
Orthopaedic Team Leader Physiotherapist, Royal Brisbane Women's Hospital
Joanna Lane
Senior Physiotherapist Trauma, Gold Coast University Hospital
Dr Jessica Formosa
Senior Research Coordinator, The University of Queensland RECOVER Injury Research Centre
Contact Us
For more information, email:
Dr Scott Farrell
scott.farrell@uq.edu.au
Dr Jessica Formosa
j.formosa@uq.edu.au