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Get back into movement with Osteopaths and Physiotherapists 

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Reduced mobility can occur at any stage of life and for many reasons. Difficulties with moving around due to injury, chronic disease, or disability can have a profound effect on independence and wellbeing, interfering with work, relationships and community participation.

Seeing an osteopath or physiotherapist can help most people improve their mobility, even when complex health conditions are present.

Here are some of the ways they do it.

Effective Pain Management is often the first step in improving movement. An instinctive response that many people have when experiencing pain, is to keep still. Unfortunately, this often has the effect of increasing pain over time. By performing holistic assessments, osteopaths and physiotherapists seek to find the causes of pain and then intervene to reduce and manage painful symptoms, freeing up movement.

Easing stiffness in joints can allow for increased mobility as range of movement improves. Osteopaths and physiotherapists employ a wide range of techniques and strategies to reduce stiffness, some involving hands on treatment while others are activity based.

Increasing flexibility of soft tissues can assist in correcting postural causes of mobility restrictions.

Improving strength through individualised and function-based exercises that address the underlying causes of immobility.

Balance training to reduce the risk and fear of falling as both can be powerful inhibitors of mobility. Osteopaths and physiotherapists apply their deep understanding of human movement and balance to address the causes of falling and reduce the anxiety that often follows having experienced a fall.

Walking aid recommendations and adjustments to support independent and safe mobility inside the home and in the community.

Referral for services that promote mobility, this may include home adaption, medical care, nutrition management and home care support.

Movement is not only the result of quality clinical treatment, but also a powerful therapeutic tool and osteopaths and physiotherapists can help people unlock the benefits and joy of moving more. It all starts with an assessment and in most cases, the result is improved vitality, independence, and quality of life.

 

About Empower Healthcare

We Change Lives

Changing lives is what we do.

Delivering high quality allied health services is how we do it.

Empower Healthcare was founded in 2016 by two people who were determined to improve the standards of allied health services in residential aged care and knew how to do it. With industry knowledge and an innovative approach, Adam and Matthew set about defining what allied health services can be when quality and person-centred care is placed before all else in healthcare.

The partnership, that merged clinical expertise with business acumen, soon established Empower Healthcare as a leading provider of quality physiotherapy services in residential aged care facilities in Victoria. This success fueled the expansion of our services within residential aged care, home care and NDIS to deliver occupational therapy, physiotherapy, nursing, podiatry, dietetics, osteopathy, massage and speech pathology.

Now offering comprehensive allied health services with more than 180 dedicated and passionate clinicians working in Victoria, Western Australia, New South Wales and Queensland, Empower Healthcare is growing and taking our unique approach with us.

A lot has changed over the years but not our commitment to the highest quality care, delivered by expert clinicians, aimed at improving the independence and quality of life of our clients- helping our clients live their lives the way they want to.

How To Get Clients Started With Our Home Care & NDIS Services

Simply click on the image below for our referral form.

Referral on-boarding now completed online in minutes

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Tracey Easte joins Empower Healthcare as Nursing Manager

Tracey Easte story SoMe

Tracey Easte joins Empower Healthcare as Nursing Manager

We welcome Tracey Easte to the Empower family as our Nursing Manager. Tracey brings a wealth of experience to the role, enabling her to contribute to Empower Healthcare’s continued expansion of our nursing services across Australia.

As Nursing Manager, Tracey will be leading the nursing team in delivering on Empower Healthcare’s mission to change lives with innovative health services by ensuring efficient execution of day-to-day nursing service delivery, combined with a robust focus on continuous improvement.

Tracey has an extensive professional background in both hospital and community nursing, having started her career at Epworth and Royal Women’s Hospitals in Melbourne before moving on to Calvary Community Care, Royal Freemasons and Aveo, achieving a Grad Dip of Management along the way. It was during her time at the Royal District Nursing Service that Tracey discovered her passion for community nursing. Aside from the high caliber of professional and managerial experience Tracey brings to Empower Healthcare, she also brings a relational nature, curiosity and a track record of success.

Tracey shares “In my experience people heal best while at home when supported appropriately. In their own environment with their pets, comfort items and routines they are involved and in control of the decisions regarding their care.  This approach to care promotes independence and improves their health and wellbeing. I believe that people should be supported as much as possible to remain in their homes to gain the best health outcomes”

On a personal note, when not at work Tracey loves catching up with family and friends as well as exercising, cooking and baking. She likes to learn new things and so you’ll often find her watching cooking shows to get ideas.

 

About Empower Healthcare

We Change Lives

Changing lives is what we do.

Delivering high quality allied health services is how we do it.

Empower Healthcare was founded in 2016 by two people who were determined to improve the standards of allied health services in residential aged care and knew how to do it. With industry knowledge and an innovative approach, Adam and Matthew set about defining what allied health services can be when quality and person-centred care is placed before all else in healthcare.

The partnership, that merged clinical expertise with business acumen, soon established Empower Healthcare as a leading provider of quality physiotherapy services in residential aged care facilities in Victoria. This success fueled the expansion of our services within residential aged care, home care and NDIS to deliver occupational therapy, physiotherapy, nursing, podiatry, dietetics, osteopathy, massage and speech pathology.

Now offering comprehensive allied health services with more than 180 dedicated and passionate clinicians working in Victoria, Western Australia, New South Wales and Queensland, Empower Healthcare is growing and taking our unique approach with us.

A lot has changed over the years but not our commitment to the highest quality care, delivered by expert clinicians, aimed at improving the independence and quality of life of our clients- helping our clients live their lives the way they want to.

How To Get Clients Started With Our Home Care & NDIS Services

Simply click on the image below for our referral form.

Referral on-boarding now completed online in minutes

 …

A Day in the Life of a Home Care Occupational Therapist

Catrina Mastroianni website

A Day in the Life of a Home Care Occupational Therapist

Ever wondered what a day in the life of a home care occupational therapist is like? We go behind the scenes with occupational therapist Catrina Mastroianni, to explore what a typical day looks like and answer a few questions that you may have about becoming one.

Mornings:

My alarm goes off at 6am, giving me usually 2 hours before starting to work, to be able to get some morning exercise in. I either spend my mornings before working going to the gym or walking my dog. I then begin to get ready for work, having a coffee and looking over my schedule and tasks for the day. This usually means, looking at my appointment times, where I’ll be going, and who I will be seeing. I also check over the referral notes to find out more about my clients and the reason I am going to see them. Usually, my first appointment is at 8:30 or 9am, however if it is a later start, I will usually spend my time completing some admin tasks in the comfort of my own home office.

Travel:

Empower ensures that my clients are as close as possible to my own suburb, being anywhere from a 5-minute to a 30-minute drive. However, longer drives also allow me to have some relaxing time in the car, listen to my favourite artists new album or even listen to a podcast.

Client Appointments:

As an occupational therapist, I have a range of different types of client appointments, ranging from initial appointments to follow ups, equipment trials or builder consults. My client load for the day, will usually vary depending on what type of appointments I have throughout the day. Empower has a range of diverse clients, from NDIS funded to HCP funded, allowing clinicians to have multiple learning opportunities with a range of different clientele with different conditions, needs and goals.

The reason I enjoy community / home care OT is because the home and community are two important environments for an individual. It is always interesting to see how individuals are within their home environment and I enjoy the problem-solving involved in making them safer at home. This often means liaising with equipment providers and builders to find adaptive technology or performing home modifications for the client.

For Example, 78-year-old Ellen with a level 4 HCP, has had multiple falls in her bathroom due to not having enough space to use her 4WF. This often means Ellen has to leave her 4WF outside the bathroom and navigate through the bathroom by holding onto different items. This makes Ellen a falls risk in the bathroom, especially with the slippery tiles. Ellen’s goal is to be able to shower and go to the toilet independently minimising the falls risk. Ellen’s old-style bathroom had minimal room between the shower, toilet and bathtub making it difficult to navigate, which makes Ellen feel extremely anxious about falling on the slippery tiles. A joint builder consult was completed with a friendly building team, who were able to come and assist with a plan for Ellen’s new bathroom. The new plan allowed Ellen to have more space to be able to use her 4WF within the area and also reduced the slipperiness of the tiles. This meant Ellen’s goal was achieved, leaving her overjoyed that she could perform important ALDs independently and bring her 4WF into the bathroom to increase her safety.

Team Meeting:

Every afternoon, the new graduates have a daily debrief that allows us to discuss the day that we had and discuss any questions that had come up throughout the day. While we do chat regularly throughout the day on a team’s chat, it is also nice to attend the meeting while doing our works, to be able to have that office like support and social interaction when working from home. It is also a great way to get to know the other new graduates and learn from some of their experiences.

 

Empower Healthcare Graduate Program

Empower’s Graduate Program

The foundations for a bright career!

How does our program work?

Empower Healthcare’s comprehensive graduate program offers personal development and mentoring, to successfully transition you from a student into talented clinician. Here’s how it works:

  • 12 month structured program
  • Individual development plan & goal setting
  • Weekly 1:1 mentoring
  • Monthly online professional development courses
  • Monthly clinical development workshops
  • Quarterly company-wide professional development & social events
  • Quarterly progress report
  • $1,500 yearly professional development allowance
  • Grad year completion bonus

Highlights:

$1500 PD fund

We provide all graduates with a $1500 professional development fund, which can be used to attend events of your choosing, to help you further your skills and development.

Mentoring and quarterly progress reports

Our grads have access to weekly 1:1 mentoring. Every three months, you and your mentor will discuss your progress in working towards your development plan and goals.

Company-wide professional development and social events

Every three months we have an Empower family reunion, which involves an evening of professional development and social activities to bring our team closer together.

Learn about our graduate program in more detail.

Empower's grad program flyer - download

Click Here for our grad flyer

We accept graduates all-year round.  Call 03 9068 3739 to talk to a member from People and Culture about our national grad opportunities.…

Emma, Occupational Therapist Reflects on Empower’s Graduate Program

Emma Austin website

Emma Austin, Occupational Therapy Graduate Reflects on Empower's Graduate Program

“I knew that Occupational Therapy was a broad field, however I didn’t realise how diverse it can be until working in the community. I feel privileged that I am able to help client’s remain safe and independent, and reach their goals through the interventions and recommendations I give.” Emma Austin, 2021 OT Graduate.

I started with Empower Healthcare in January 2021 as a part of their Graduate Program. I was worried having just graduated from university that I would be thrown into the deep end. However, since I have joined Empower, I have never felt more supported throughout my entire journey.

A moment that has stood out to me was during one of the shadowing sessions with my mentor. We completed a joint session with the client’s family and carers to teach them how to correctly and safely complete hoist transfers. It was a great session, and throughout we were all having fun and laughing. The client had a smile on his face the entire time. My mentor was very happy at the end of the session, as in previous meetings, the client was always quiet and appeared sad. It was a great feeling to know that we were able to make the client smile.

 

Empower Healthcare Graduate Program

Empower’s Graduate Program

The foundations for a bright career!

How does our program work?

Empower Healthcare’s comprehensive graduate program offers personal development and mentoring, to successfully transition you from a student into talented clinician. Here’s how it works:

  • 12 month structured program
  • Individual development plan & goal setting
  • Weekly 1:1 mentoring
  • Monthly online professional development courses
  • Monthly clinical development workshops
  • Quarterly company-wide professional development & social events
  • Quarterly progress report
  • $1,500 yearly professional development allowance
  • Grad year completion bonus

Highlights:

$1500 PD fund

We provide all graduates with a $1500 professional development fund, which can be used to attend events of your choosing, to help you further your skills and development.

Mentoring and quarterly progress reports

Our grads have access to weekly 1:1 mentoring. Every three months, you and your mentor will discuss your progress in working towards your development plan and goals.

Company-wide professional development and social events

Every three months we have an Empower family reunion, which involves an evening of professional development and social activities to bring our team closer together.

Learn about our graduate program in more detail.

Empower's grad program flyer - download

Click Here for our grad flyer

We accept graduates all-year round.  Call 03 9068 3739 to talk to a member from People and Culture about our national grad opportunities.

 …

Helen Gougas Brings 30 Years’ Experience to Our Clients Needing Massage Therapy

Blog header Helen G profile

Helen Gougas brings 30 years' experience to our clients needing massage therapy

Meet Helen.  Helen is our senior masseur and brings over 30 years’ experience in massage therapy to the table to truly provide exceptional and individualised therapy treatments.

Helen is a qualified remedial therapist, and following her passion in this care profession, has certified herself further in many other modalities including therapeutic relaxation massage, oriental therapies, bowen, reflexology, biomagnetic, electromagnetic, laser therapies, shiatsu, reiki and pranic healing.

With her extensive knowledge of the body’s musculoskeletal, energy and emotional facets, Helen is a very intuitive therapist and her extensive studies and breadth of experience allows her to customise every treatment to suit each person.

She is a firm believer that “everyone faces different health issues and one size certainly does not fit all.” Our clients and employees collectively agree that “Helen‘s therapy sessions are exceptional and you feel amazing afterwards.”

If your client is experiencing muscular restrictions, tightness or spasms or suffers from a chronic illness such as Rheumatoid arthritis, Fibromyalgia, Sciatica, MS or Polio just to name a few, then regular remedial massage can be used to unlock the muscle tissue, so it becomes supple and allow greater functional mobility to complete everyday activities pain free.

 

Our Service Guarantee

Our promise: We respond faster. Whether it’s our short waiting lists, same day reporting or simple referral process, you can rest assured that your client is in the best hands.”

We have listened to our clients and they don’t have the time to micro-manage their portfolio. They want to partner with someone that is reliable and dependable with transparent pricing structures.

Adam Gilroy Smith, CEO reveals, “Empower has grown by 100% over the past year based on our service model across Home Care, NDIS and Residential Aged Care. By listening to our clients and the challenges they face, we adapt, stay well positioned and respond fast to deliver exceptional care. The launch of our new service model is another example of Empower Healthcare’s ability to be agile in a rapidly changing environment.”

Click Here for Home Care

 

How To Get Started With Empower

To arrange a referral, click on the image below

Referral on-boarding now completed online in minutes

 …