Physiotherapy
Movement to keep you independent and mobile
Occupational Therapy
At Plena Healthcare, our Occupational Therapists are committed to helping you achieve greater independence and live a more fulfilling life. Whether it’s making your home safer, teaching new skills, or recommending assistive devices, we provide tailored solutions to meet your unique needs and goals.
Our team works with you to create personalised, long-term plans that adapt as your needs change. Whether you’re recovering from an injury, managing a disability, or looking to maintain your independence as you age, we’re here to support you every step of the way.
Why Choose Plena Healthcare Occupational Therapy?
At Plena Healthcare, our Occupational Therapists are dedicated to empowering individuals across aged care and disability settings. With a focus on personalised care, we work closely with you to understand your unique needs, goals, and challenges.
- Promotes independence: Let’s achieve greater independence in your daily life. We recommend assistive technology products and equipment like adaptive cutlery, sleeping, seating, and personal hygiene product options perching stools for washing dishes or shower chairs to prevent falls and make daily living easier for you with tailored education and activities to suit your needs and abilities.
- Enhances safety at home: Your home will be thoroughly evaluated to identify potential safety hazards. Our therapists could suggest strategies or modifications such as installing ramps for easier access, grab rails in showers, and handrails on steps to enhance your safety and accessibility.
- Improved community access: OTs will assess your abilities to access the community, and recommend adaptations or assistive devices to improve accessibility, this includes car transfers, motorised scooters and powered wheelchairs. We provide travel training, helping you navigate public transport independently by understanding schedules and routes. By gradually exposing you to community settings and offering support, your Occupational Therapist will help you build confidence, enabling more independent community engagement. Through these comprehensive strategies, we empower you to overcome barriers and actively participate in your community.
Here is what sets us apart:
- Expertise Across Sectors: Our team is experienced in both aged care and disability support, ensuring tailored services that promote independence and enhance quality of life.
- Holistic Approach: We look at the whole picture, addressing not just physical needs but also emotional and environmental factors to create practical, sustainable solutions.
- Individualised Plans: Every recommendation we make—from assistive technology to home modifications—is designed to fit your specific circumstances and goals.
- Commitment to Collaboration: We work alongside you, your family, carers, and other professionals to ensure seamless, integrated support.
- Ongoing Support: As your needs evolve, we adapt our strategies to help you maintain independence, safety, and confidence in all aspects of daily life.
Conditions and life challenges we treat daily with Occupational Therapy
At Plena Healthcare, our Occupational Therapists provide tailored support to help individuals overcome a wide range of physical, cognitive, and emotional challenges.
- Stroke and neurological rehabilitation: Are you recovering from strokes or managing neurological conditions? We provide therapeutic activities that enhance motor skills, cognitive functions, and coordination. We work closely with you to manage health challenges, recover from injuries, or adjust to life with chronic illnesses through practical strategies, home modifications, and assistive technology.
- Aged Care support and mobility concerns: For seniors, we offer services that help retain function and independence. This includes support with maintaining independence with daily tasks, developing exercise programs to improve strength and balance, recommending assistive devices like walkers or wheelchairs, and conducting home modifications and safety evaluations to prevent falls.
- NDIS support: Helping with Functional Capacity Assessments to help with functional goals and receiving the right funding. Click here to find out more.
Our approach to Occupational Therapy
Here’s what you can expect from your OT journey:
Step 1: Understanding your needs and goals
Your OT will begin by getting to know you and your specific goals in an initial assessment meeting. Whether it’s preventing falls, making daily tasks easier, or simply feeling more confident moving around your home, this initial conversation helps us understand how to best support your independence. We will discuss any challenges you face with mobility, safety, or comfort in your home.
Step 2: Assessing Your Environment
Once we understand your goals, the OT will review your home environment. This step is crucial in identifying what works well and what could be improved to support your daily activities. For example, we’ll consider whether your living room has space for a powered chair or if adding a grab rail could make the bathroom safer.
Step 3: Tailored Solutions – Equipment & Home Modifications
Based on your needs and home assessment, the OT will recommend equipment and home modifications to enhance your independence and safety. These may include powered mobility devices, like scooters, or modifications like widening a step for your walker or adding handrails for stairs. Each recommendation is designed with your comfort and independence in mind. Whether it’s a powered mobility device like a scooter or an electric recline chair to help you avoid falls, or home modifications such as widening a step for your walker or adding a handrail to navigate stairs—each recommendation is made with your comfort and independence in mind.
Step 4: Planning & Implementation
e guide you through the entire implementation process. Our OTs work closely with you to ensure that new equipment fits seamlessly into your home and lifestyle. From initial setup to proper installation, we’re here to make sure everything is working as it should. We work closely with you to ensure everything is installed and functioning properly.
Step 5: Follow-Up & Support
Once everything is in place, your OT will follow up to ensure the changes are meeting your needs. If any adjustments are required, or if you have questions, we’re here to help with ongoing support.
Frequently asked questions about Occupational Therapy
What is occupational therapy, and how is it different from physiotherapy?
Occupational Therapy (OT) focuses on how you perform tasks; with the aim to help individuals perform activities of daily living more independently. OTs assess and adapt the environment, provide assistive devices, and teach strategies to help individuals manage daily tasks, such as dressing, cooking, or bathing, particularly when physical, cognitive, or emotional challenges are present to build functional independence in daily life.
Physiotherapy (PT) primarily focuses on how you move and function; with the aim to improve movement, mobility, and general physical function. PTs treat conditions related to musculoskeletal, neurological, or respiratory issues, aiming to reduce pain, increase strength, prevent falls and enhance movement through exercises, manual therapy, education, and other physical interventions.
Who is eligible for occupational therapy?
At Plena Healthcare, we provide Occupational Therapy services to individuals over the age of 18, addressing a wide range of needs across various sectors. This includes support for NDIS participants, those in residential aged care, home care packages, as well as those accessing Medicare and private services.
What should I expect in the first session?
In your first session, we will conduct an initial onsite assessment, which will take about an hour. During this time, we’ll walk through your environment and discuss your routines, support network, and goals. After the assessment, your Occupational Therapist (OT) will review their findings and recommendations with you, collaboratively setting your goals.
The OT will then take additional time offsite to prepare a comprehensive report. Based on the recommendations, they will liaise with your funding provider to discuss the findings. The provider will review the available funds and approve the next steps as needed.
Other Allied Health Services We Offer
We take a multi-disciplinary approach to care, which means our clinicians will assess your needs holistically and refer to other modalities if needed, to deliver the best possible outcomes.
Let’s improve your daily living
Contact us today to start Occupational Therapy and feel better.