A multi-disciplinary approach leads to great outcomes: Allied Health Professions Day
We're celebrating the incredible work of our Allied Health team, and the great outcomes that come from a multi-disciplinary approach.
We’re celebrating Allied Health Professions Day on 14 October, recognising the incredible work of Yooralla’s multi-disciplinary Allied Health therapy team.
This year’s theme, ‘Stronger Together’, emphasises the advantages of multi-disciplinary care, which we know is particularly beneficial for Allied Health professionals by providing access to a broad network of supports.
It is also of great benefit to people with disability or developmental delay, who achieve greater outcomes as a result of access to various kinds of Allied Health services.
Supporting Jack with a multi-disciplinary approach
Yooralla initially started supporting Jack with speech pathology in early childhood and now in grade two, Jack is progressing in leaps and bounds, with the multi-disciplinary support of a Yooralla Speech Pathologist, Positive Behaviour Support Practitioner and Physiotherapist.
The transition to school can be difficult for many children, and Jack experienced challenges adjusting to the routine and structure of a school day, often becoming overwhelmed as a result.
Through the work of Aurellia Bion, Yooralla’s Acting Professional Lead – Speech Pathology, Jack has been supported to develop his communication and language skills to produce age-appropriate articulation and clarity, increase his vocabulary and fundamental understanding of life concepts and is overall building his capacity to express himself.
Jack having speech therapy support to improve his capacity was and is incredibly important in supporting Jack to understand and articulate his emotions, and have his wants and needs met through functional communication with the support of Brittany Webster, Senior Clinician, Positive Behaviour Support Practitioner at Yooralla.
“When we first started working together, Jack wouldn’t reference his own emotions, using imagery from games like Minecraft to explain how he was feeling,” said Brittany.
“We worked together, using talk-based activities and games to support him to feel confident and safe in expressing and understanding his emotions. Jack will now independently articulate his emotions through words and drawings and seek support to problem-solve and process his experience with different emotions,” Brittany said.
Claire Dowling, Senior Clinician, Physiotherapist at Yooralla, has also supported Jack with developing his fine and gross motor movement and his core strength, which was impacting his ability to join peers during classroom floor-based learning for extended periods of time.
This support from Claire has meant that Jack is building his capacity to remain seated but has also educated his teacher to recognise the signs that Jack may be experiencing discomfort when seated, and to encourage him to use any of the alternatives that Claire and Jack have worked on together.
This multi-disciplinary approach has and been tailored to Jack’s needs as he progresses through school.
“Jack is incredibly insightful and clever,” said Brittany.
“We’re always having conversations about his feelings, and he actively practices his [behaviour] regulation strategies and has goals for his future to be a healthy adult male that can regulate himself.”
“We’re working on making him feel confident in his friendships and to develop his social skills, learning different ways to interact with his peers if they don’t share the same interests,” said Brittany.
In response to Jack expressing that many people focus on his negatives, Jack and Brittany also established an individualised positive reinforcement system to acknowledge his positive behaviour, which is becoming increasingly consistent as Jack progresses through his therapy journey with Yooralla.
Why is a multi-disciplinary approach so important?
A multi-disciplinary approach has supported Jack to have his needs met and understood through a variety of lenses, resulting in great outcomes across his many strengths that are only continuing.
By utilising Speech Pathology, Jack is able to communicate his needs and express his emotions, that he now has more confidence and understanding of, thanks to his Positive Behaviour Support.
The work of his Physio is supporting Jack to increase his physical capacity and coordination to join peers during floor learning and physical based activities with comfort and confidence, while the work of his Positive Behaviour Support has supported him to develop his ability to utilise a visual break board to communicate if he is feeling uncomfortable and needs to take a break from the activity. He has also been assisted to recognise when he is overwhelmed and supports to recognise behaviours that indicate discomfort or need to access movement.
This holistic approach supports Jack’s ability to communicate and have his needs and preferences understood in many domains, which, in-turn, means Jack doesn’t become overwhelmed and rather experiences continuing positive outcomes.
Joining effects from different professions amongst Jack’s allied health team has enabled scaffolding of Jack’s skills that improves multiple domains of Jack and his family’s quality of life. The open communication amongst the professions has aided breaking down barriers to Jack achieving his goals and ensuring implementation strategies and recommendations align with Jack’s interests, values and capacity.
Multi-disciplinary support for Allied Health professionals
A multi-disciplinary approach is also incredibly beneficial for Allied Health professionals, who can draw on the experience and education of therapists from other disciplines.
At Yooralla, our Therapy teams work out of regional offices, where AH professionals from speech pathology, physiotherapy, occupational therapy, psychology and Positive Behaviour Support work together, to support people with disability or developmental delay to achieve their goals.
These collaborative spaces mean AH professionals have access to a “brains trust” where everyone has experience and education in a different area, to “help shape a practitioner’s learning and understanding of new perspectives,” said Brittany.
“With how accessible… [therapists from different disciplines] are and the informal conversations you have, you can see how different aspects come together and are intertwined,” she said.
“A real strength of Yooralla is that everyone is open and actively using a multi-disciplinary approach to support our clients to achieve the best outcomes,” said Brittany.
Seeking a career in Allied Health?
We are recruiting Allied Health professionals to work as part of a multi-disciplinary therapy team using evidence-based practice to support people with disability of all ages and needs to achieve their goals.
Interested in receiving Therapy services?
If you would like to speak to us about how we can support you with our range of therapy services, please complete our online form and one of our friendly team members will assist with your enquiry.