Occupational Therapy Update 2022

By Jen Stephens

Occupational Therapy Senior Leader

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Occupational Therapy

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09/02/2022

2021 was quite a year, to say the least. With lots of adapting to do, our Occupational Therapy and Physiotherapy teams did a fantastic job of navigating the past year’s challenges while still achieving new goals.

Term 4 Team Meeting

Our Occupational Therapy and Physiotherapy teams were lucky to get our half-day team meeting before restrictions, which included presentations from internal and external professionals. Michael, one of our Occupational Therapy Team Leaders, shared his learnings from recent training in the area of trauma as well as the progress on our new database to organise evidence-based practice information. Ben from De-Jay Medical gave us an update on the latest equipment available for our clients, ensuring they always remain our focus.

Developing Talent

We continually aim to contribute to our team’s education and professional practice development and those entering our professions. Throughout the year, Early Links Occupational Therapists and Physiotherapists supervised eight university students from various universities. With this, we have gained some amazing new qualified staff, including Allied Health Assistants, Occupational Therapists and Physiotherapists, where they officially graduated from their studies. Our team progressed into leadership roles, with our support for career progression and the opportunity to undertake leadership and management qualifications.

Some of our graduates

Many of our staff also completed external training online to ensure they could provide more effective support to our clients affected by trauma, eating and feeding difficulties and more. A special mention to Occupational Therapist Annette, who shared her knowledge and enthusiasm on a range of topics in our weekly Professional Support Program sessions. Most of the training was delivered online to adapt and adhere to health restrictions. Our teams also adapted to these changes, shifting their services through Telehealth, including dance and yoga groups.

Community Groups

Our Allied Health Assistants have collaborated with our Therapy teams to bring our community groups to fruition, such as cooking, dance, yoga, and playgroup, to name a few. Thank you to our fantastic team for their continued passion and delivered care.

New Therapy Spaces

With the upgrade to our Maitland office and new Kurri Kurri office, our Occupational Therapists and Physiotherapists will soon be enjoying the new therapy rooms, improving the quality of assessment and intervention sessions with engaging spaces such as sensory swings, a climbing wall and more.

2022

Our teams worked over the school holiday period to continue providing additional support to our families, and we are excited to continue working with you this year. If you would like to find out more about the support we offer, please get in touch with our friendly team using the contact form below.

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