Digital Pulmonary Rehabilitation Physiotherapist

Background

Location:

Remote in India. Based in Maharashtra a plus.

Contract:

Full-time with shared weekend cover, 12 month initial term, with potential for extension. Part-time considered.
Salary:
Competitive, commensurate with experience (₹25,000 - ₹30,000 /month).

About Respira Health
Respira Health is a nonprofit tackling chronic respiratory disease in India by providing free-of-cost, accessible pulmonary rehabilitation (PR) via Whats App. PR is a proven treatment that can reduce mortality risk and improve quality of life, yet fewer than 3% of patients in India have access. Our programme combines an 8-week Whats App chatbot-delivered exercise and education intervention with physiotherapist oversight.

We're aiming to enrol 1,000+ participants by March 2027, with a longer-term ambition of reaching 100,000+ annually through government-embedded delivery. Our current priority is building evidence that our programme delivers real health improvements, at a cost per participant that supports future scale.

Role Overview
Respira Health currently enrols participants into our 8-week PR programme largely by advertising on Facebook. We're looking for a physiotherapist to support the participant journey end to end. This involves:
Conducting baseline and endline video assessments with participants to measure their progress over the course of the programme
Screening programme applicants who require a clinical judgement on their suitability
Engaging with participants throughout the programme (eg. for support, motivation, user research)
Providing clinical input to shape and improve the design and delivery of the programme

This is an opportunity to shape both the participant experience and the evidence base for a first-of-its-kind digital PR programme in India, working closely with our existing physiotherapy team.

Key Responsibilities
Video assessments (primary role)
Conduct video call assessments with participants at baseline and endline, focused on our most clinically meaningful objective measures: likely the 1-minute sit-to-stand and breath hold test.
Ensure assessments are conducted consistently and rigorously enough to support credible pre/post comparison.
Programme oversight & escalation
Provide physiotherapist oversight for the Whats App PR programme, motivating participants, answering queries and following established escalation pathways.
Eligibility screening support
Support chat-based eligibility screening for participants flagged by our automated and AI-assisted screening flows.

Scope to support with the following as you build experience with the programme:
Program improvements, consistency & data quality
Work closely with our existing physiotherapists and medical advisor to keep assessment protocols consistent and drive program improvements. Ensure accurate, well-documented data collection to support our evidence generation and cost-effectiveness analysis. Identification and reporting of bugs, issues or feedback from participants.
In-person testing at partner facilities
Support investigations into in-person testing and research for more robust data collection in future.
Help develop in-person protocols that sit alongside our current online-first model.

These responsibilities are completed via. Email, Whatsapp, Turn.io and use of Google Forms, Docs and Sheets. A laptop is required at all times during working hours.

Qualifications & Experience
Strong communication, documentation and patient follow-up skills. This is a patient facing role.
Bachelor of Physiotherapy (BPT) required;
Masters or additional certification in Cardio-Pulmonary Physiotherapy is a plus but not necessary.
Some exposure to cardio-pulmonary or respiratory patients during clinical training
Familiarity with or willingness to learn our standardised PR…