Good Boost Study Shows Community Digital Rehab Can Deliver Clinical-Outcomes at Lower Cost

Good Boost Study Shows Community Digital Rehab Can Deliver Clinical-Outcomes at Lower Cost

New research published in Musculoskeletal Care confirms that a digital therapeutic exercise and rehabilitation programme delivered through community leisure centres can match Physiotherapy outcomes, while saving an estimated £168.72 per person.

The study, which evaluated over 4,400 people with musculoskeletal (MSK) conditions engaging in Good Boost compared to over 2,700 people engaging in face-to-face Physiotherapy treatment, found that Good Boost led to improvements in physical function, pain, mental wellbeing, and overall health, equivalent to the in-person Physiotherapy treatments, at lower cost.

Good Boost uses tablet-computer facilitated personalised exercise programmes delivered in pools, studios, and at home. It was rolled out across 136 community venues between 2022-2024 and compared against traditional Physiotherapy clinical appointments.

While the clinical results speak for themselves, the bigger story is what Good Boost’s scalable and replicable model signals for the future of healthcare delivery, particularly the role of leisure infrastructure in supporting national health priorities.

Repositioning Leisure as Health Infrastructure

Good Boost challenges long-standing assumptions about where healthcare happens. The programme is designed to be facilitated by trained leisure staff, with digital tools delivering individualised support and outcome tracking. This enables non-clinical, community spaces to provide services that are clinically comparable.

Leisure centres already have the space and reach to support health delivery. With modest training and tech infrastructure, they can become community health hubs, improving access while reducing demand on GP practices and Physiotherapy departments.

For operators, this model creates new revenue opportunities. In pilot sites, up to 50% of participants transitioned into paid memberships, achieving a blend of commercial sustainability and measurable social impact.

Delivering on National Health Strategy

This model aligns with the Government’s 10-Year Health Plan for England, which aims to deliver more care in the community, digitally enabled support, and a shift from reactive treatment to proactive prevention.

• Community-based: Rehab delivered in trusted leisure settings.
• Digitally enabled: Tailored sessions guided by real-time feedback.
• Prevention-focused: Early access, habit formation, and self-management

“This is one of the largest real-world evaluations of a community-delivered digital health intervention for MSK conditions,” said Ben Wilkins, lead author and co-founder of Good Boost.

“It shows that when co-designed in collaboration with patients and communities, digital tools can deliver scalable, inclusive health improvement comparable to face-to-face clinical treatment.”

What Happens Next

To unlock further impact, the model must now scale with consistency:

• Local commissioning based on outcomes, recognising the value of non-traditional delivery partners
• Clear referral and access pathways, including self-referral and social prescribing
• Ongoing data capture and evaluation, enabling continuous improvement and national learning

Good Boost provides a proven, scalable approach to delivering accessible, community-based care that is cost-effective, evidence-based, and aligned with national health priorities.