Reece Adams Appointed Hearth Allied Health Manager of Occupational Therapy, Research, and Innovation
I am very happy to announce that Reece Adams has joined Hearth Allied Health in the role of Manager, Occupational Therapy, Research and Innovation.
We feel truly fortunate to have attracted Reece to the team as he comes with almost 20 years’ worth of experience working in the Disability sector.
Reece is a longstanding advocate for people with disabilities and comes to us directly from Monash Health where he held the role of Head of the Centre for Developmental Disability Health and was pivotal in innovating ways people with disabilities could access healthcare, including supporting our most vulnerable community members with disabilities to receive their COVID-19 and other vaccinations.
Career pathway
Beginning his career as a Disability Support Worker with Yooralla, Reece has continued working with people with Disabilities in various capacities including Occupational Therapist, Researcher and Head of a state-wide health service for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities.
Reece Adams completed his Bachelor of Occupational Therapy Sciences at Deakin University in 2006, and completed his postgraduate Honours Research at Monash University in 2016 studying the Wheelchair and Seating Assessment process for adults with Developmental Disabilities.
Reece’s work experience includes community-based services for people with disabilities including vision impairment, neurological conditions, and complex developmental disabilities.
My Lived iD online hub for intellectual disability and mental wellbeing
Continuing his career into research, Reece found an increased passion for evidence-based practice and innovation, and through his work, reduced the average 17-year gap of knowledge translation from research to practice.
This was achieved with development of the soon to be launched National My Lived iD online hub for intellectual disability and mental wellbeing, which was funded by the Australian Government Department of Health and Aged Care, and was inspired by a sector consultation on service and information access during the early part of the pandemic.
Multi-tiered support model
Additionally, Reece Adams developed and lead the research of the use of a multi-tiered support model to enable general healthcare access for people with intellectual and/or developmental disabilities, which proved particularly successful enabling individuals to access their COVID-19 vaccinations.
Head of the Centre for Developmental Disability Health
This piece of work made it to the finals of the prestigious Victorian Disability Awards 2022.
During the tenure of his role as Head of the Centre for Developmental Disability Health Reece lead a multidisciplinary service of Medical, Nursing, Allied Health, and Research.
The aim of this role was to deliver clinical services, education to undergraduate Medical and Allied Health students and health and disability workforces, as well as lead the research activities of the Centre.
Occupational Therapy clinician, leader, educator, and researcher
As an experienced Occupational Therapy clinician, leader, educator, researcher and collaborator in the disability sector, Reece Adams is well credentialled to lead our Occupational Team and to achieve the delivery of high-quality work and outcomes for our clients.
Reece’s dedication and enthusiasm to make a difference is infectious and spills into a unique style of energic leadership that is refreshing to be around.
We congratulate and welcome Reece to the team and look forward to the next chapter for Occupational Therapy at Hearth Allied Health.
Fiona McAlinden
Director – Hearth Allied Health
