Paediatric Allied Health Assistance
What is an Allied Health Assistant?
Allied Health Assistants operate under the direct supervision of health care professionals to provide therapeutic and program-related support in a range of assistant roles such as occupational therapy, speech pathology, physiotherapy and others. They are trained to work within a particular scope of practice and undertake the tasks delegated to them by the overseeing health practitioner in that field.
Occupational Therapy Australia (2015) describes Allied Health Assistants (also known as AHA’s) as
“A person employed under the supervision of an allied health professional who is required to assist with therapeutic and program related activities. Supervision may be direct, indirect or remote and must occur within organisational requirement.”
The Nurturing Hand has a wonderful small team of AHA’s, who can offer great value within the NDIS for the following reasons:
- Our AHA’s are students of an accredited bachelor’s or master’s degree in Occupational Therapy, constantly learning on the go and developing the skillset for delivering client-centred and evidence-based practice.
- They work and operate under the direct supervision of our lead OT, with support, guidance and resources at their disposal.
- Some of our AHA’s that are currently undertaking master’s degrees, carry along tremendously relevant undergraduate disciplines that can be effectively applied into practice, such as nutrition and eating disorders.
- We are great advocates of a collaborative approach to ensure quality assurance and holistic support. Our director is frequently delivering additional strategies and tips to his team with shared or non-shared clientele to support their autonomy, regulation, and successful engagement in occupations.
- AHA rates in the NDIS are substantially more cost-effective than standard occupational therapy rates, therefore one’s NDIS plan can be maximized with more frequent and ongoing therapy to make the most out of one’s NDIS plan. Additionally, these sessions can even alternate with OT sessions on a weekly basis, allowing a participant’s NDIS goals to be one step closer.
The step-by-step process of our AHA service delivery are as follows
Initial consultations and assessments are all conducted and administered by our occupational therapists.
We will direct you to an allocated AHA that we see as the right fit.
Commencement of 1:1 ongoing therapy with our AHA, under direct supervision and support from the overseeing occupational therapist.
