WHR Allied Health is celebrating OT week

OT week, or Occupational Therapy Week, runs from October 24-30 with World Occupational Therapy Day on the October 27.

This year’s theme ‘What OT means to me’ enables our communities to celebrate the care, contribution and profound impact occupational therapy supports have in our lives.

What OT means to me

Neolani, WHR Administaion

“To me, OT means helping people of all ages to do the things they need to do, want to do, are expected to do, and more importantly, do what they love to do.

“I am often one of the first points of contact for feedback from clients and support coordinators, and it really makes my day, when I hear about how their lives have been positively impacted by one of our team.”

Zoe, WHR Senior OT

“It is an honour to work with somebody who is working towards bettering themselves and achieving their goals. I find working with people as an OT to be a truly rewarding experience.

“I enjoy being able to work with people of all ages to achieve health, well-being, and a greater quality of life.”

A spotlight on future OTs

WHR Allied Health not only provides ongoing OT supports to our local community, but they also continue to commit to overall sector development by partnering with Deakin University to provide student placements yearly.

“We are looking forward to replicating this again in 2023,” says Brad Dent, Director of WHR Allied Health.

Stephanie Scarlett, an OT who oversees the WHR OT student placements, noted the challenges that have existed for tertiary students around placements over the last few years and that “offering an engaging placement with lots of variety in tasks enables the students to shine”.

“It lets them know that the hard work will soon culminate in them having the opportunity to work in a field they can love,” she said.

Aradia Young-Ekeh, a Deakin fourth year student, acknowledged the benefits of an engaging and supportive final placement at WHR earlier this year.

“As the pressure of my final year of study began to mount, so did the last-minute doubts of my capability as a near graduate OT and, ultimately, whether it was the career path for me,”Aradia said.

“However, during my eight-week student placement, I was able to see my learning from the past four years come full circle as it was applied to clients and the positive interactions I endured with both clients, the staff at WHR and various stakeholders built my confidence, in both the classroom and practical settings.

I’m grateful for my placement at WHR for cementing that I am indeed on my dream path.”

Another extension of their sector development comes via Therapy Assistant supports, offered as part of WHR’s suite of services.

All Therapy Assistants are Occupational Therapy Students and receive high levels of professional supervision and development under the direction of the Therapy Assistant Coordinator, Dion Wierzbowski. Dion noted the benefits of utilising current OT students in these roles, explaining how their thorough understanding of OT theories and strategies helps to promote clients’ skill acquisition and capacity building, all the while under the direction of a qualified therapist.

Additional details on WHR Allied Health’s services and their commitment to professional development for their team are available via their website whralliedhealth.com.

Referrals for two years-plus paediatric, adolescent and adult clients can be made by dropping into the clinic, phone 03 5261 9037 or via the ‘referral’ section of the website.

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