2022 award winners

2022 Elspeth Pearson Award winners Occupational Therapy School of Victoria Clinical Award winner

Rana Morgan

Rana will advance his learning in culture, ethnicity and health to further develop his skills in supporting culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) families and children to experience equal and equitable access to health literacy in his practice. “It is a privilege to be a recipient of this award as it provides an opportunity to continue to develop my skills to support and empower culturally diverse families,” said Rana. Megan Simon

Megan will further her understanding of working with children with developmental delays and to guide her in developing a bespoke self-care and social skills program specifically for these children. “It’s a privilege to be a part of a profession that values developing early career clinicians and delivering best practice. I’m really looking forward to undertaking these courses so that I can be the best OT that I can, positively impact the children and families that I work with, and give back to the profession in future,” said Megan.

Elspeth Pearson (1926-2015) was a member of the first cohort of occupational therapists to be trained in Australia and was well known for her pioneering work in mental health. She was an inspirational leader who had a clear vision for occupational therapy in Australia and a strong commitment to developing and nurturing occupational therapists throughout their career. Her commitment to the profession lives on through the Elspeth Pearson Award by supporting and inspiring early career occupational therapists. Applications for the 2023 Elspeth Pearson Award will open in January 2023.

YOUR SKILLS ARE NEEDED

Laura Jolliffe received this award for her project titled “Equitable education: educational videos for therapists to support skilled-delivery of complex upper limb interventions”. Laura is currently employed at Peninsula Health as the Allied Health Research and Knowledge Translation Lead and Monash University as a lecturer in the Department of Occupational Therapy.

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