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I qualified as an Occupational Therapist in 2000 from University of Derby. Since qualifying I have worked in adult mental health, older adults mental health (dementia care), neurology and acquired brain injury in the NHS.

In 2005 I specialized in the clinical area of acquired brain injury. I worked in the regional Community Brain Injury Rehabilitation Centre with clients and their families who had complex needs. During my work there I was a member of the Brain Injury Rehabilitation and Research Partnership and contributed to a service evaluation with service users. I worked with Speech & Language Therapy colleagues to develop a joint assessment of executive functioning after brain injury for use at the centre, which was based on nationally published research.

In 2009 I took the post of Training & Development Consultant in brain injury. This combined my clinical skills and knowledge with my enthusiasm for facilitating the development of others. In this post I was the course leader for an accredited training programme in brain injury, for support workers.

I now work as the Dementia Clinic Project Manager at the Department of Human Communication Sciences, University of º¬Ð߲ݴ«Ã½. The Dementia Clinic aims to bring speech and language therapy and nursing students together to undertake life story work with people with dementia and their family carers. I believe it is important to inspire future generations to work with people who have dementia and to offer those students and people with dementia and their carers a fulfilling and rewarding experience. I am interested in developing this mutually beneficial service to enhance the lives of people in º¬Ð߲ݴ«Ã½ and increase student’s skills and confidence in this area of work.