Allied Health Services

Community Nurse Specialist – Queensland

After completing her nursing degree at Griffith University, Elle worked as a registered nurse at the Spinal Injuries Unit at Princess Alexandra Hospital before bringing her experience and knowledge to Spinal Life Australia.

The former rural NSW resident provides specialist in-home nursing services to improve the wellbeing and quality of life for clients with spinal cord damage, including bladder and bowel management, pressure sore and wound care, diabetes education, medication reviews, general health assessments and more.

While she’s not helping others, Elle enjoys settling down with a good book.

Registered Nurse – WA

Paula has more than 32 years’ experience in nursing, including many years working in the disability sector.

Initially from the UK, Paula brings her years of expertise to Western Australia to deliver specialist in-home nursing services to people with spinal cord damage, including continence care, catheter changes and pressure and wound management.

She also uses her knowledge to help up-skill Personal Support Workers in the region to assist with more complex aspects of disability health care.

Paula has a Diploma of Higher Education in Midwifery Studies at Greenwich University in London and studied mental health at Murdock University.

In her down time, Paula loves spending time with her extended family as well as her many pets, including dogs, cats, rabbits, guinea pigs, chickens and pigeons – just to name a few!

Occupational Therapist – Cairns

Lucy brings with her over a decade of experience in clinical areas, including paediatric care, Indigenous family health and disability services.

She will be assisting clients in Far North Queensland reach their goals and improve their quality of life at the Spinal Life Healthy Living Centre when it opens in 2020.

When she isn’t working, Lucy loves keeping active and especially enjoys the outdoors, playing sports and going camping with her family.

Practice Manager

Nick has more than 10 years’ experience as a physiotherapist with a specialist interest in spinal injury management, transitional rehabilitation and pain management.

Prior to starting his role as the Allied Health Practice Manager in 2019, Nick worked at the Spinal Injuries Unit at Princess Alexandra Hospital, treating patients both inside the Unit and upon their return to the community.

After years of helping patients with spinal cord damage at the Unit achieve their goals and make the transition from hospital to home, he now uses his experience and knowledge to help the Allied Health Team reach their maximum potential and ensure their clients achieve their goals.

Occupational Therapist – Townsville

Kristin is passionate about helping people achieve their goals and helping clients break down barriers to what they want to achieve.

After previous placements in Education Queensland, James Cook University and Ozcare, she joined the Spinal Life Australia team in 2018 as an occupational therapist for members and clients in the Townsville region.

She’s lived in Townsville since she was 8 years old and, when she’s not assisting clients or spending time with her family, Kristin keeps active by playing netball or walking up the picturesque Castle Hill.

Occupational Therapist

With Bachelor’s Degrees in Health Science and Occupational Therapy, and having completed her placement with Spinal Life as part of our Cairns unit, Yvette has hit the ground running since she joined the Allied Health Team and been delivering excellent results for her clients.

This includes a client with complete C4 quadriplegia who is back fishing after Yvette’s assistance helped fit a boat hoist and custom fishing chair with chin control and electrical reel.

Examples like this show the determination for results that saw Yvette represent Australia in water polo. She’s not all machine though and does like getting her Betty Crocker on and doing some baking.

Occupational Therapist

Rebecca has more than 20 years of experience working as an OT across 2 continents. With her Bachelor of Occupational Therapy from the University of Queensland, she started working in Community Health north of Brisbane before moving to London.

There she spent most of her working time with a wheelchair and seating service. With a newly discovered interest in seating, and its potential effects, Rebecca returned to Australia. She worked for a time with the Department of Housing before joining Spinal Life in 2006.

Rebecca aims to assist clients in living a full and comfortable life and finding solutions to the every day challenges that may arise.

Driver Trained Occupational Therapist

Maxine received a Bachelor of Applied Science (Occupational Therapy) and a driving course in Sydney. She has since worked in a wide variety of practice areas, including inpatient and outpatient settings, for the last decade.

With a passion for hiking and travelling, Maxine has taken the opportunity to work overseas to hone her craft. This led to her taking the opportunity to work as an OT at the Kings College Hospital in London.

Since she joined the Spinal Life team in 2014, Maxine has made a real difference for her clients. One example includes a gentleman who was told he would never drive again, but, with Maxine’s support, has successfully completed his driving lessons using hands controls and is well on his way to achieving his goal of driving independence.

Occupational Therapist

Joanne has turned her Bachelor of Applied Science (Occupational Therapy) into a career as an OT spanning more than 30 years, primarily working with services that impact people undergoing injury rehabilitation and living with disability.

Since she joined Spinal Life Australia in 2011, Joanne has assisting clients by reviewing and prescribing equipment, and home and workplace mods. She works with NDIS applications, Aged Care, Job Access and insurers to help clients achieve their goals in independence, mobility and community participation.

She recently worked with Job Access to obtain a trailer, 4×4 wheelchair and other equipment for a client’s role as camp leader, as well as assisting another client convert their dog-washing trailer to be wheelchair accessible and operated.

Occupational Therapist & Registered Nurse

Janette’s story starts with her training as a nurse at Austin Hospital in Melbourne. She worked in acute, readmission, and rehabilitation in the Spinal Injuries Unit before taking up a role as the Northern Territory Spinal nurse, where she was responsible for the whole territory.

Later returning to university, Janette now also has a Bachelor in Occupational Therapy from James Cook and a Graduate Diploma in Clinical Rehab from Flinders.

Recently she has supported a client in getting an assist dog and making the home modifications to allow this. Of course dogs need walks, so she also arranged a customised beach wheelchair and now the client has been on her local beach for the first time.

Having conquered Kokoda, over 1000 skydives, and 3 children, Janette is fully prepared to help her clients achieve their goals. Whatever they may be.

Physiotherapist – Allied Health Services

Gail completed her Bachelor of Physiotherapy at the University of Queensland. She has since worked in a diverse array of positions in the field.

She has been the Physiotherapist in Charge at the Princess Alexandra Hospital in Brisbane. She has also operated a private practice at Orthopaedics North West Hospital. Gail has been at Spinal Life Australia working for the Allied Health Services area for the last 8 years.

A mother of 4 and grandmother of twins, Gail’s work takes a long-term focus in finding the best outcomes for her clients. One recent client, a lawyer, was pushing a manual wheel chair through the CBD, up and down steep inclines. Gail worked with the client to access Power Assist options and has significantly reduced their chance of injury.

Practice Physiotherapist

Anthony gained his qualifications as a physiotherapist at the University of Toronto. Since then Anthony has gained a wealth of experience in the field.

His specialised internships were in spinal cord rehabilitation and acute neurological ICU. He has since worked in outpatient care, and at the Bridgepoint Health Rehabilitation Hospital in Toronto, and Prince of Wales Hospital in Sydney, where he has worked in:

• spinal cord injury rehabilitation,
• complex neurological rehabilitation,
• nerve damage, neuropathy,
• stroke rehabilitation and more.

Anthony’s philosophy is about achieving the best outcome for every client. A current client went from 6 months of being unable to safely stand or transfer after a decline in function, to standing and transferring independently by working closely with Anthony.

Anthony uses his experience, skill and passion to help every client achieve their goals comfortably and safely.