Melissa Heng

Melissa Heng is a physiotherapist specialising in geriatric care. As a young child, she was inspired by her grandmother to develop an interest in care for the older adults. Over the years this interest evolved into a passion, where she now enjoys partnering older adults through physical activities, exercise and rehabilitation through wellness, frailty to sickness.

 

Melissa has carved a decade of experience working in Khoo Teck Puat Hospital, where she headed both the geriatric physiotherapy and the inpatient physiotherapy team. This experience led her to develop an understanding of not just the common illnesses and conditions related to older adults, but also the social, emotional and needs of living well and meaningfully.

 

Over the years, she has contributed to the care of older adults through the setup of multiple services and grooming of younger therapist towards the same cause. Some of the services include early rehabilitation assessment in the Emergency Department, Preoperative rehabilitation for frail older adults, intergenerational programs between children and older adults with dementia, as well as home therapy rehabilitation services so that older adults post surgery do not have to extend their stay in a hospital setting in order to receive timely rehabilitation.

 

With these experiences on hand, Melissa hopes to be able to extend her expertise to more individuals in the community, and bring rehabilitation out of the hospital setting, yet committing to the provision of sound, holistic and evidence-based care.