Thrive Allied Health

17/12/2024

We will be closed for the festive season from Friday 20 December 2024 and will reopen on Monday 6 January 2025.

Thank you to all our participants, clients, families suppliers and partners for your efforts this year. We wish you all a peaceful and safe Christmas and New Year.

18/12/2023

Thrive Allied Health will be closing for the festive season on Friday 22 December 2023. We will reopen on Monday 8 January 2024, refreshed and ready to go! Wishing all a safe and happy Christmas and new year.

26/11/2023

Meet the Team:
Fiona Neagle is the owner of Thrive Allied Health. The practice was set up to provide services to assist people throughout Gympie Region gain purpose, thrive and flourish in their daily lives.

Fiona holds a Bachelor of Applied Science in Occupational Therapy and a Master of Health Administration and has worked for the past 33 years in health care, aged care and disability as a clinician and service manager. Her passion lies with assisting people with disability and older Australians achieve inclusive and connected lives through her occupational therapy practice, access consultancy, project work and range of volunteer roles.

Outside work, Fiona enjoys gardening, reading, lunches out with friends and spending time in nature.

20/11/2023

Meet the Team:
Bianca Kidd is an occupational therapist with a passion for working with clients and their families to achieve meaningful, person-centred goals.

Bianca graduated from the University of the Sunshine Coast in 2014 with a Bachelor of Ocupational Therapy (Honours). She has a broad range of experience in inpatient and outpatient hospital settings, residential aged care and community health throughout South East Queensland.

Bianca leads her practice with person-centred care, compassion, respect and dignity. She is passionate about clients being able to access the best services for their needs. Bianca enjoys working collaboratively with the team at Thrive Allied Health as well as a wide range of community stakeholders to ensure the best outcome for her clients.

Outside work, Bianca enjoys bushwalking, yoga, supporting local cafes and spending time with her young family.

12/11/2023

Meet our team:
Ashleigh Moessinger graduated from the University of the Sunshine Coast in 2014 with a Bachelor of Occupational Therapy (Honours). Since then she has worked as an occupational therapist in disability, paediatrics, aged care and rehabilitation.

Ashleigh’s passion is to support people to improve their ability to participate in their daily lives. She loves to solve complex problems with specialised equipment and home modifications. She also enjoys finding solutions for people to access specialised assistive technology.

Ashleigh has been working with Thrive Allied Health since 2019. When she is not at work, Ashleigh likes spending time with family and friends camping and exploring.

24/10/2023

Occupational Therapists practicing in a diverse range of workplaces met this morning for breakfast to celebrate OT Week across Gympie region!

24/10/2023

It's OT Week! Celebrating all things Occupational Therapy this week across Australia.

06/02/2023

For those interested in the tech side of Glenn's eye-gaze operated lift chair, here are a few photos of the set up. Pictured are Sue and Glenn Walker with the lift chair and the tech set up.

05/02/2023

In a world first, Thrive Allied Health occupational therapist Fiona Neagle has worked with NDIS participant Glenn Walker and a global support team to achieve full eye-gaze control of a La-Z-Boy four motor lift recliner chair.
Based in Gympie, Queensland, Fiona and Glenn have been working over the past several months on Glenn's goal to operate his La-Z-Boy power lift recliner chair independently.
Glenn has Motor Neurone Disease, a progressive neuromuscular disorder that affects his ability to use his muscles. Glenn is unable to use his arms or hands for any activity. His wife Sue Walker provides Glenn with assistance with all daily activities.
Glenn already uses a computer to successfully operate his TV, email, internet and power wheelchair. These are operated through use of eye-gaze control, supplied by Link Assistive in Adelaide. Glenn is able to look at the screen to select items and a camera tracks his eye movements on the screen, rather than using a mouse or touch screen.
Glenn's La-Z-Boy electric lift recliner chair comes with a standard remote control handset supplied by his local retailer Davies Furniture Court Gympie. Glenn was unable to use the buttons on the chair’s remote control handset. His goal was to be able to operate the chair functions including recline and lift to help him stand up independently.
Fiona requested assistance from James Dean at Technical Solutions in Melbourne www.tecsol.com.au This company designs alternative access methods and wide range of electronic equipment for people with disabilities all over Australia.
James designed a world-first eye-gaze operated scanning controller for the La-Z-Boy chair. Whilst controllers for some lift chairs are available, this is the first time a controller has been developed specifically for the four motor La-Z-Boy chair anywhere in the world. It uses infrared to convert the eye gaze input into signals the chair can understand.
Service and Product Quality Improvement Manager, Glen Stevens from La-Z-Boy Australia provided a full set of electrics for James to test his design. “The test set of controls and motors La-Z-Boy made available was essential to this project. We’re very grateful for their unhesitating assistance,” Mr Dean said.
Mark and Linda Tunstall, owners of Davies Furniture Court Gympie assisted Glenn with a range of spare parts, and are thrilled with the result.
Smartbox Assistive Technology Tom Fawlk and Adam Marschall, software AT support specialists based in the United Kingdom, provided Grid 3 software support.
Glenn proudly states, “The development of this software and hardware for my La-Z-Boy chair has now given me more independence due to being able to control my chair’s movements through my eye gaze system. I no longer have to depend on my carers to raise, lower or adjust the chair.”

An amazing global collaboration and a great result for Glenn who now independently operates his lift chair whenever he wants.

08/01/2023

Happy New Year 2023! We are refreshed and ready to go.

13/12/2022

Thrive Allied Health will be closed for the Christmas/New Year break between Friday 23 December 2022 and 6 January 2023. We will reopen on Monday 9 January 2023. We wish everyone a wonderful Christmas!

13/03/2022

Thrive Allied health has a part time casual position available for an Administration Officer within our busy practice in Gympie.
Hours will be negotiated with the successful applicant. This position may become permanent, depending on business needs.
We need an enthusiastic person who is keen to make a difference - who can work independently and run a busy small office, take direction, has a high degree of personal awareness, can accept and respond appropriately to constructive feedback, has excellent written and verbal communication skills, can relate to others with empathy, warmth, respect and professionalism and can manage their time well. If this is you, we would love to hear from you!

You will need a:
- minimum of Certificate 3 in Business Administration or working towards this qualification or three years minimum business administration experience.
- current valid Queensland driver’s license.
- unblemished National Criminal History Screening, NDIS worker screening clearance and Blue Card.
- all required COVID-19 vaccinations.

To apply:
- address the selection criteria in the position description at https://www.thrivealliedhealth.com.au/administration.../
- attach a covering letter
- attach your resume

Email your application to: info@thrivealliedhealth.com.au
Applications close: Monday 28 March 2022 at 5pm.

Thrive Allied health has a casual position available for an Administration Officer within our busy practice in Gympie. Hours will be negotiated with the successful applicant. This position may become permanent, depending on business needs. You will need a: – minimum of Certificate 3 in Business Ad...