Meet Emma, Occupational Therapist at Fairburn Vale

Working as an Occupational Therapist (OT) in a care home can be incredibly rewarding and fulfilling.

At Exemplar Health Care, we take pride in our colleagues who aim to make every day better for the people we support.

Emma is an Occupational Therapist at Fairburn Vale care home in Castleford, who uses her knowledge to empower those we care for.

In her role at Fairburn Vale, she provide assessments, interventions and ongoing evaluations to support people in their everyday lives.

The Occupational Therapist role

What sets Emma's role apart is that it’s guided by what's important to each individual. There's no ‘typical day’ for her.

One day, she may be conducting an equipment assessment, and the next, she could be supporting someone in preparing a meal or going swimming.

This approach forms a therapeutic relationship that encourages individuals to maximize and maintain their independence.

At Exemplar Health Care, our Occupational Therapists support people to achieve their goals and help them overcome the challenges they may face.

"The role is varied and gives me the opportunity to work on a long-term therapeutic basis with people. This contrasts with many of my previous roles where the emphasis was on short-term rehabilitation and discharge."

Learning and development

Emma's career journey began in 2002 when she started as an Occupational Therapy Assistant. Driven by her passion for helping others, she gained a BSc Honours degree in Occupational Therapy at Salford University.

During her training, Emma worked as a Therapy Assistant, which provided her with many opportunities to put her learning into practice.

Throughout her career, Emma has worked in various areas, including elderly rehabilitation in hospitals, community learning disability, community mental health, and brain injury rehabilitation.

Although Emma had a wealth of experience when she joined us, Emma’s learning and development didn’t come to an end!

At Exemplar Health Care, we offer thorough induction and extensive training when you join us.

The people we support have a range of conditions and needs, and we offer role specific training to care for all of these.

Emma has enjoyed taking part in all of the training on offer, and has expanded her ever growing knowledge as a result.

A rewarding role

One of the aspects Emma finds most rewarding is her ability to adapt activities to enable people to participate, whether independently or with support.

“If I can improve a person’s life in any way, however small and for however long, my job is done.”

Emma enjoys working with the wider Care and Clinical Team at Fairburn Vale.

Being part of a multidisciplinary team allows her to create person-centred care plans to support people to achieve their goals.

"Every day is different! That's always been the attraction for this role."

The autonomy that comes with being the Occupational Therapist at Fairburn Vale allows Emma to thrive on the challenges that arise, working with people with a range of care and health needs.

Working as an Occupational Therapist at Exemplar Health Care

Occupational Therapists at Exemplar Health Care, support people in their everyday lives and empower them to achieve independence.

Exemplar Health Care supports adults living with complex mental and physical health needs including people recovering from spinal or brain injuries, people living with neuro-disabilities and dementia, and those who require respiratory care.

We offer a range of in-house and external training programmes for our colleagues.

Our Occupational Therapists also have the opportunity to progress into such roles as Lead Therapist in our bigger homes or across a number of homes, managing a team of colleagues.

Being an Occupational Therapist with us is extremely rewarding as we aim to make every day better for our residents.

If Emma’s journey has inspired you to join Exemplar Health Care as an Occupational Therapist, or in any other role, please visit our online job search for our current vacancies.