Pear Tree Occupational Therapy

01/11/2025

31/10/2025

31/10/2025

Exciting Update: Pear Tree Occupational Therapy continues to support positive ageing under the new Support at Home program from 1st November 2025! 🍐🌳

I’m pleased to share that I’ll continue providing aged care occupational therapy services through the new Support at Home program, helping older Australians live safely, independently, and meaningfully at home and in their communities.

Through Pear Tree Occupational Therapy, I provide:
✅ Functional assessments and therapy sessions (home, community or telehealth)
✅ Capacity building to support confidence and participation in daily life
✅ Falls prevention, environmental and home safety assessments (including minor home modifications such as ramps and rails)
✅ Dementia care and mental health occupational therapy
✅ Assistive technology assessments and training
✅ Collaboration with care partners, families, and providers to promote wellbeing, dignity, and quality of life

As an Endorsed Mental Health Occupational Therapist with over 20 years of clinical experience, my focus in the aged care space is on positive ageing - helping you or your loved ones maintain independence, safety, and a sense of meaning and purpose.

Services are available across Lara, Geelong and surrounding areas, with options for home visits, community-based sessions, and telehealth consultations.

🕊 Support at Home begins on 1st November 2025 - and I look forward to continuing to support older Australians through this new framework. Speak to your Care Manager / Care Partner for more information about how to use your Support at Home funding to access my services.

📞 Contact: info@peartreeot.com.au
| 0492 828 965
📍 Rosewall Community Centre, Corio (By Appointment)

Blessings,

Dr Rob 🍐🌳

14/09/2025

Hi everyone. I hope you’re enjoying the start of spring.

I’m excited that my pear tree is budding.

If you’ve had a season that has been tough, I hope you can begin this new season by seeking opportunities where you can do, be, become, belong, and connect.

If you need a little help to get going, please reach out.

Finally, I want to thank those who have been coming to the monthly Pear Tree Connect 🍐 🌳 🔗 program throughout this year.

It’s been fun connecting this year through meaningful and purposeful activities together.

It was great to host project placement students who invested in researching how Pear Tree Connect could reach disconnected community members.

I’m still reflecting on their report which will guide next steps.

As a result, I’m pausing Pear Tree Connect for the rest of this year. I have some great ideas on how to sharpen this program’s focus for next year. Stay tuned.

With thanks,

Dr Rob 🍐 🌳

27/08/2025

I was absolutely thrilled to receive the final project placement report completed by final year Occupational Therapy students Emma Clark, Ruby Conti and Hua Bai from La Trobe University.

These remarkable students completed a 10-week placement supervised by me, where they explored all things “connecting” by researching ways to reach potentially disconnected community members in Geelong’s North through Pear Tree Connect 🍐 🌳 🔗. This involved analysing population data and demographics, published research, conducting comprehensive literature reviews, interviewing key stakeholders, and applying their findings to guide ways foward.

Their report highlights that Occupational Therapist-led social prescribing programs are well-placed to support ‘connecting’ to people, place, purpose, planet, and the deeply personal, especially for disconnected Men.

This is a first in the field of occupational therapy, and we will be working together to share the findings more broadly, including a planned research journal article publication. Exciting times ahead!

As a solo private practitioner, I could never have dedicated 688 hours to this project without the Students’ support. Expanding the Pear Tree Connect program that I run, and now anchoring it in an evidence base, feels like such an incredible achievement.

Dr Rob 😊 🍐 🌳

15/08/2025

Enjoyed a lovely visit to Biyal-a Armstrong Creek Library today. Such a beautiful library. Libraries are such fantastic places that help facilitate social inclusion and connection. They have lots of free resources to promote engagement, beyond books! Check out your local library. You will be surprised.

Cheers,

Dr Rob 🍐 🌳

08/08/2025

06/08/2025

Come along to a free 'Cuppa and Catch Up' at Rosewall Community Centre as part of Pear Tree Connect later this month. Morning Tea will also be provided. Theme is "A random skill or hobby you've always wanted to try?" Cheers, Dr Rob 🍐🌳🔗

25/07/2025

Thanks to everyone who came along to Pear Tree Connect 🍐 🌳 🔗 at Rosewall Community Centre today, where we connected over a cuppa and some morning tea.

We didn’t even have time for Jenga or Scrabble!

The biggest challenge was trying to get it back into the box.

See you on Friday August 22nd for our next one at 9:30am - 10:30am.

Cheers,

Dr Rob 😎

15/07/2025

Hi everyone. I’m on leave until Friday. Please send me an email and I’ll get back to you after then.

Cheers,

Dr Rob 🍐 🌳

12/07/2025