Allied Health Day (14 October) is an opportunity to celebrate the integral contributions of all our Allied Health teams across Monash Health.
This year the theme is ‘Stronger Together’, highlighting the benefits of a multidisciplinary team approach to patient care.
Here at Monash Health, we have over 1,800 Allied Health clinicians working in over 25 different professions across the continuum of care. From caring for babies in the neonatal intensive care unit right through to supporting patients receiving end of life care, Allied Health clinicians work across the lifespan and play a crucial role, at all points, throughout a patient’s care journey.
“Our team have an amazing can-do attitude that shines through in our work,” says Danielle Ryan, Chief Allied Health Officer. “Today is an opportunity for all of us at Monash Health to celebrate the hard work our Allied Health teams do every day, and thank them for the significant contribution they make to wellbeing, health and care outcomes.”
Within Monash Health, Allied Health professionals may provide assessment, intervention, management and education for clients in varied and complex clinical contexts, including:
- Community-based health promotion and preventative interventions and programs
- Emergency Department (ED) and hospital-based acute and subacute care
- Community rehabilitation
- Aged, disability and community care
- Mental Health inpatient and outpatient settings
- Early intervention
- Speciality outpatient clinics and services
They work across therapies and science fields, in our library and within health information services.
Shining the spotlight on our Allied Health teams
As we celebrate Allied Health Day, we want to shine the spotlight on some of our Allied Health teams, to celebrate their integral contributions across Monash Health.
Highlighting the unique role of the ED Care Coordinator
Meet the Emergency Department (ED) Care Coordinators team, who embody the multidisciplinary aspect of this year’s ‘Stronger together’ theme.
“We have traditionally been made up of Social Workers, Occupational Therapists, and Physiotherapists but we currently have a Podiatrist on our team as part of a pilot (and are hoping to also welcome a Dietitian and Speech Pathologist in the future), so we are beyond excited to celebrate Allied Health Day together,” says Sarah Miller, Care Coordinator.
The team spend their time rushing around ED to support their medical and nursing peers with the aim of discharging our patients directly home, rather than admitting them to hospital. “This means we work in a transdisciplinary capacity, through upskilling in our non-core allied health profession to manage the needs of the patient in a rapid and flexible way to facilitate Excellence in Timely Care.”
The team have had a lot to celebrate since Allied Health Day last year.
“Our team has grown with new members,” says Sarah Miller. “We have welcomed Geriatricians into our team at Dandenong and Casey Hospitals as well as Monash Medical Centre Clayton. We have also celebrated weddings, babies, and some fun holidays.
“We have initiated quarterly team dinners, including a couple of bowling sessions, to support team building and staff wellbeing.”
The team have also participated in two state-wide projects with Safer Care Victoria (SCV) and held the Transdisciplinary Model of Care Forum in March with 133 attendees, comprising 25 services across 5 states. They then held the nationwide Transdisciplinary Model of Care Roundtable in May to highlight the need to update the 2009 Victorian ED Care Coordination Guideline.
Stepping into Research
Allied health is well known at Monash Health for the crucial role they play in ensuring that our community receives the care and support required to optimise health and wellbeing. But did you know that in addition to enhancing the health outcomes for patients, allied health are stellar researchers?
In collaboration with the Monash Health Library, Allied Health ran the exciting Stepping into Research program for the first time this year. The program recognises the need to provide support for our clinicians wanting to dip their toe into research for the first time, in an intimate and tailored research learning experience.
Over five months, a select group of nine allied health clinicians from across the organisation received education and mentoring from an experienced allied health researcher to undertake a systematic review of the literature.
Projects ranged from Jennifer Ward’s (Social Worker, Monash Children’s Hospital) exploration of memory-making opportunities for bereaved families whose child has died in hospital, to Oshara de Silva’s (Dietitian, Victorian Heart Hospital) examination of technology-based nutrition interventions in cardiac rehabilitation, right through to Siobhan McNally’s (Occupational Therapist, Community Rehabilitation) review of group based upper limb interventions following stroke.
This breadth of interest in research across allied health was evident in the professional background, years of experience and clinical program of our successful applicants, reiterating the message that research is everyone’s business and it is never too late to start.
The program culminated in presentations sharing both the experiences and the findings of their work, emphasising the importance of both product and process in the research journey. Not only did our budding researchers report that participation in the program increased their research confidence, but some also told us about their appetite to do more research in the future, undertake a PhD or change their career pathway to include research.
Evidence of our commitment to enacting the Allied Health Research Strategic Plan and enhancing the research culture and capability of our teams, this program actively nurtured the growth of our next crop of allied health researchers.
The future is bright for allied health research!
‘Stronger together’: A wealth of Allied Health talent
We have over 1,800 Allied Health clinicians working in over 25 different professions, representing a diversity of skills, experiences and backgrounds.
In the gallery below, you can see some of our Allied Health heroes in action.
[foogallery id=”79807″]
Celebrate Allied Health Day at our Employee Forum
Join us at our Employee Forum on Tuesday 17 October to hear Chief Allied Health Officer Danielle Ryan in conversation with Mahesh Paramasivan, Physiotherapy Workforce Clinical Educator, and Sally Cameron, Senior Physiotherapist.
Let’s celebrate our Allied Health teams and their pivotal role in caring for all our patients!
Approved by Danielle Ryan, Chief Allied Health Officer