In May this year, one of our senior occupational therapists, Julia Salmon, relocated to the Great Southern to support our clients in Albany, Denmark, Mount Barker, Walpole and surrounding Great Southern areas.
Since relocating, Julia has been warmly welcomed by the Great Southern communities. She has met with providers across the region and run workshops with support coordinators from various organisations, WA Country Health Service and local GPs. By being involved with the NDIS OT Network Group, we have been able to build effective relationships with other OTs in the area.
There are limited OT services in the Great Southern, and since the NDIS rolled out, access to OTs has been even more challenging. Many clients are living in challenging situations, requiring them to travel far distances to access OT services in Perth. We are receiving many referrals from support coordinators, GPs and other OTs for clients in Denmark, Walpole and Kendenup.
As one of the last regions to have the NDIS roll out, we are pleased to see participants and providers building understanding of NDIS services. Many NDIS plans have restricted capacity building hours or have hours which have not been used due to the OT shortage. This has resulted in great demand for functional capacity assessments and reports.
Specialist Disability Accommodation is also making its way to the Great Southern region, with a Sana Living development underway, and several referrals coming our way for SDA reports to enable clients to move into a home of their own.
Since re-locating to the region, Julia has worked with Perth-based Project Managers on complex home modifications applications as the number of OT’s able to complete these applications is even more limited than the general OT workforce in the area. We are looking forward to the positive outcomes for clients and hope to work closely with local builders to complete the modifications.
If you want to learn more about the services we offer in the Great Southern region, click here.
Pictured above: Beautiful scenery in the Great Southern, one of many perks.
