Joint Approach - Mobile platform for prehabilitation and rehabilitation that can help with providing an exercise-based intervention for people on waiting lists for knee replacement surgery.?

People waiting for knee replacement surgery will use a tablet or smartphone app to follow a 12-week exercise and education programme designed to reduce pain and improve joint function before they ever reach the operating theatre. The problem this addresses is stark. Osteoarthritis of the knee is common, painful, and disabling, yet patients often wait months or years for surgery with little structured support in the meantime. Standard care offers no systematic way to manage symptoms, build strength, or prepare mentally for recovery. This project fills that gap by delivering a clinically-proven, multidisciplinary programme—combining physiotherapy, strength training, psychology, and nutrition—directly into patients’ homes, removing the need for clinic visits. If the approach succeeds, it could reshape how the NHS manages surgical waiting lists. Instead of passive waiting, patients become active participants in their own care, potentially arriving for surgery in better physical and mental condition. That could reduce post-operative complications, shorten hospital stays, and improve long-term outcomes. More broadly, the mobile platform could be adapted for other musculoskeletal conditions, quietly improving a system—orthopaedic care—that millions of people depend on but rarely think about until they need it.