Interview with Occupational Therapist & Director at Thrive Occupational Therapy
The aim of Thrive Paediatric Occupational Therapy is to provide a service that supports children and their families to grow and develop so that they prosper in their respective environments.
Thrive is located in Shepparton within the Goulburn Valley region of Victoria. Thrive provides a rural service for children and adolescents from birth through to adulthood.
Annie Seccull
Annie has always had a passion for working with children and their families to support and guide them to thrive in their respective environments.
Annie graduated from the Australian Catholic University with a Bachelor of Occupational Therapy. Annie is registered with the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA) and is a current member of Occupational Therapy Australia.
Annie has had extensive experience working as an Occupational Therapist in Melbourne working for both the Department of Education within a Special Development School and a highly reputable paediatric private practice. During this period, Annie has had the opportunity to work with a diverse range of children with complex needs including children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), Down syndrome, Cerebral Palsy, Global Developmental Delay, Intellectual disabilities and social and behavioural difficulties.
Annie has also undertaken professional development in a range of occupational therapy approaches, including specialised training in the Sequential Oral Sensory (SOS) approach to feeding.
Annie is excited to bring her knowledge and expertise in Paediatric Occupational Therapy to the Goulburn Valley.
Annie’s Therapist Thoughts
Tell us about your role and your clinic? And why do you do this work?
I am the owner and director of Thrive Paediatric Occupational Therapy Services. I started the paediatric clinic at the end of 2019 where I was a sole practitioner. The team is growing and we currently have 3 Occupational therapists and a Physiotherapist. I am currently working clinically as well as supporting my team and developing the business.
What is your mission with your work?
At Thrive Paediatric Occupational Therapy our aim is to provide a service that supports children and their families to grow and develop so that they prosper in their respective environments.
What’s the hardest thing about your role?
Not being able to support and service everyone who needs access to an occupational therapist in our regional town Shepparton.
What's a key feature you love on Theratrak?
The ease of creating a home program in a couple of minutes and that all of our activities created by any of our OT's can be on the one platform and it can be easily accessed by our families to embed home practice.
How have you implemented Theratrak into your clinic?
Thrive POTS is just one of the many regional private paediatric practices significantly impacted by compounding waitlists. To support more families who were not receiving any 1:1 support our team designed a range of Occupational Therapy Home Programs based on current occupational therapy models and decided to leverage an innovative digital tool (Theratrak) to provide asynchronous care.
What's been the impact of Theratrak in your clinic?
It has been an innovative tool with minimal administrative time to not only support our families who are waiting for 1:1 occupational therapy but also increase our current clients participation in therapy activities at home.
Our therapists love how you can see the separate activities you are sending to the client really easily. It allows you to review before you send and having that prompt to confirm you are ready to send the program, has saved us from sending the program before it is ready.
What are the most common exercises you prescribe with Theratrak?
Our most common use currently is for our OT home programs which include a range of activities from the following areas:
Fine motor
Gross motor
Emotional regulation
Sensory and Planning
Social
Self-Care
What advice would you give to a therapist considering using Theratrak at their clinic?
You will be surprised how much time Theratrak saves you as a therapist, particularly if it integrates with the practice management software you use.
What are the three top features therapists love and why?
Our therapists love the home page layout and how easy it is to find your way around the app.
Our therapists love that we can add our own activities within a couple of minutes.
Our therapists love that they can track and keep up to date with how families are going with their home practice activities.
What advice would you give other clinic owners about considering to use Theratrak in their practice?
Give it a try!! The support from founder Laura Simmons is absolutely amazing, something that I had not received with other platforms I have tried. I also love that she is an OT and so relatable.
No idea is crazy and she will work with you to ensure that you get the best outcomes with your team and business direction.
