Mater Physiotherapist Mandy Proctor is passionate about improving outcomes for children with a range of movement and developmental concerns from birth till three years of age.
Mater’s Paediatric Physiotherapy services include expert developmental screening and support for pre-term infants, assessment and intervention for movement or posture concerns plus musculoskeletal management.
Mandy will see children in the Neonatal Critical Care Unit (NCCU), on wards after birth, in the Mater Children’s Private Hospital and in outpatient clinics as well.
“The most common concern we have from parents is preference for head orientation in infants which can lead to flat spots forming on the baby’s head, we work with the parents and child to gently rectify the issue” Mandy said.
“We also have parents who come see us with any gross-motor development concerns. This could be delays or trouble with reaching milestones such as rolling, sitting, pulling to stand or walking.
“My approach is always to do a full assessment to ensure the child has full range of movement and I look at muscle tone, reflexes and observe their movement skills.”
Mandy said that play was an essential component of physiotherapy treatment for children as when you make the experience fun and engaging the child will have a better outcome and are easy to win over and make friends.
“I use play based intervention and therapy during a treatment while giving parents plenty of play based activities to do with their child at home. This makes the treatment plan easy and fun to follow,” Mandy said.
“I do also love it when I get to see some of the children I care for while they were in the NCCU back at my appointments, parents really appreciate the continuity of care as you have the same therapist with you on your child’s journey.
“The Mater Health and Wellness team are able to provide expert allied health services in the one simple setting and cross refer as necessary, we are a very supportive and close-knit team.”
To find out more about Children’s Therapy Services at Mater please call, 07 3163 6000, email info.wellness@mater.org.au or visit the website here.