OCCUPATIONAL THERAPY CREATES PROFOUND IMPACTS ON CLIENT AND PATIENT LIVES
Margeaux Bartholomew-Carle
Occupational Therapist &
Chief Executive Officer, Ardant
PEOPLE IN HEALTH CARE
Filmed in Adelaide, South Australia | December 2024
In Australia, access to allied health services such as occupational therapy is increasingly challenging. Barriers like long wait times affect over 600,000 National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) and 1.5 million aged care participants. With both cohorts expected to grow exponentially in coming years, the pressure on an already stretched system is set to increase.
Australian Health Journal met with one Occupational Therapist who encourages those entering the profession to embrace continuous learning and seek mentorship to maximise their impact on clients’ lives. Through her company she has a nation-wide mission to transform client access to allied health services like occupational therapy using artificial intelligence (AI).
Margeaux Bartholomew-Carle is an Adelaide based registered Occupational Therapist and the Founder and CEO of Ardant.
Throughout her career, Margeaux has worked in various settings, including aged care, disability, assistive technology, prescription, and mental health. This diverse experience has deepened her understanding of the different needs among client groups.
A significant turning point came when she worked as a solo practitioner and realised that the heavy administrative burden often kept her from important family moments, especially while her father was in the hospital with advanced prostate cancer. This experience motivated her to establish Ardant, focused on enabling OTs to prioritise client care over administrative tasks.
Under her leadership, Ardant has created an all-in-one online practice management platform designed to reduce administrative burdens for independent occupational therapists across Australia, ultimately enhancing access to OT services and improving client outcomes.
Margeaux believes that the role of occupational therapists is gaining recognition, particularly with the introduction of the NDIS, but acknowledges there are persistent misconceptions about the profession. To raise awareness, she advocates for targeted campaigns to educate GPs, health professionals, and the public about the value of OT in primary healthcare.
-
Indigenous physio leadership
On the eve of NAIDOC week 2023, Australian Health Journal met with Scott Willis, the National President of the Australian Physiotherapy Association, a proud Palawa man and the first Indigenous President of the Australian health peak body.
-
Delivering anaesthetic services to countries where surgical services can’t be provided
Dr Wendy Falloon is an Anaesthetist of over 30 years experience and a Fellow of Australian and New Zealand College of Anaesthetists (ANZCA). She studied medicine at the University of Tasmania, and worked in Hobart, Sydney and the Uk while completing her specialist qualifications. Her primary professional focus has always been to deliver the best possible experience of anaesthesia to each and every patient, and for them to know that she sees and values them, and their stories.
Having been born in Africa, she realised even as a child that health and wealth were largely a product of where people happen to be born. This sowed the seed of her ongoing desire to be of help to others in less fortunate circumstances, ultimately leading to her volunteer work with the Mercy Ships charity. This is one of the most fulfilling aspects of her career, and she has volunteered in Africa with Mercy Ships 8 times since 2014.
-
Health equity
For 30 years the Humpty Dumpty Foundation has worked to help bridge the gap that often exists between available resources and actual needs through the donation of paediatric medical equipment. Humpty, like many other charitable initiatives, began with a humble goal. Its Founder and Executive Chairman, Paul Francis OAM, together with Patron Ray Martin AM, set out to raise some money to paint the walls of the Children’s Ward at Royal North Shore Hospital.
To date more than 440 hospitals and health services have shared in over $85 million of essential and lifesaving medical equipment for sick and injured paediatric patients.
