H E A L T H
P R O F E S S I O N A L S
SUPERKIDS O.T
DR BRENDA RATTRAY How long have you been a General Practitioner, and where did you complete all your studies? In January 1999 I arrived in Australia from South Africa, with my husband and a backpack, planning a one year working holiday. From the minute we arrived in Australia, in particular the NSW Mid North Coast, we knew we wanted to make this our home. It’s 15 years later, and I’m still here! After two years of working in Brisbane, remote Northern Queensland and Western Australia, we finally settled in New South Wales. I have been a GP in the Port Macquarie area for the last 13 years. I have more recently been refreshing my acute care skills at Port Macquarie Base Hospital. In February this year I took the plunge and returned to solo general practice. My aim is to establish a general practice directed at personalised patient care. It is important for my patients to receive continuity of care by seeing the same doctor who knows them personally.
You have a private practice here in Port Macquarie. What are the opening hours, and do you take new patients? This practice is a family venture, with me providing the clinical care and my husband, Clint, providing the rest! I definitely feel that I have the easier role. My daughter, Tegan, has even demonstrated her office skills during the school holidays whilst my son, Jordan, is a great general handyman and gardener. My books are currently open to any new and old patients. All our patients are bulk billed. What are some of the services you offer at your practice? My practice offers all aspects of general practice, including: Chronic disease management; All aspects of women’s and children’s health Aged care Shared antenatal care Minor surgical procedures Vaccinations/ immunisations Medicals and health assessments
Erika Stevenson has just recently opened a new practice as a paediatric occupational therapist - Superkids OT. Erika focuses on setting goals with parents and children so the child acquires particular skills in order to enhance daily activities. Her services are available for individual children, groups or in school settings. Superkids Occupational Therapy (OT) is child-centered and based on the assumption that the child and their family will be active participants in the process. Superkids OT is based on the Cognitive Orientation for Daily Occupational Performance (CO-OP) model, the world’s best practice cognitive approach. CO-OP enhances the acquisition of skills, enables engagement in relevant occupations and promotes participation in daily activities. It is a problem solving approach in which child (or child and parent) specified goals are addressed from a learning perspective. Erika explained how CO-OP works: “We think about the tasks that the child wants or needs to perform, rather than foundational skills. This means that we work on a task like riding a bike in the child’s role as a playmate, rather than working on improving balance or bilateral coordination. “We work in ways directly relevant to the child’s circumstances, with active engagement of both the child and parent at all stages, and any intervention is both flexible and tailed to the indi-
vidual child,” she added. “It’s important to listen and respect what children have to say, focus on their needs, see things from their perspective and view them as individuals, as well as members of a group.” Erika offers group classes in gross motor skills, fine motor skills, school readiness, handwriting and pre-writing (ABC) classes, and a social skills class to help children fit in at play. A children’s yoga and relaxation class is also available. Superkids OT provides assessment and intervention for handwriting, gross and fine motor actives, activities of daily living such as dressing and organisation, social skills, visual perceptual and visual motor activities and childhood anxiety.
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