As an Occuational Therapist, Amira always knew she wanted to care for a living, but working with older people had never been on the cards. It turned out to be the best career move she ever made. 

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Amira is exactly the sort of person you’d want as your Occupational Therapist. She’s warm, caring, patient, and deeply passionate about supporting older people to stay in their homes for as long as possible, and empowering them to engage in meaningful activities which give their life purpose.  

Based in a quiet village in the Blue Mountains with her husband, mother-in-law, and three grown daughters, Amira has been supporting BaptistCare clients across the Nepean, Blue Mountains, and Western Sydney regions for over three years.  

Here she shares how she got into home care occupational therapy, what it’s like day to day, and her reflections on working for BaptistCare.  

Connecting with older generations from a young age 

As a first-generation Australian, Amira grew up in a close-knit, multi-generational family who, having recently migrated from Lebanon, were trying to make their mark in a new country full of opportunity.  

“It was my Grandmother who raised me while my parents were out at work,” says Amira. “I would hang out with her and her friends every day until I started kindergarten.”  

Spending her childhood with her grandmother’s generation gave Amira a natural ease around older people, and yet when she qualified as an Occupational Therapist, she initially rejected the idea of working in aged care.  

“I never thought I’d be any good at it,” Amira admits. “It’s a challenging space, and I wasn’t sure I had enough resilience. It was only later that I realised how special it is to work with this generation – I wish I had known sooner.” 

As an occupational therapist in home care, Amira works with clients like Beryl (pictured) to help them live an independent life in their own home.  

“A privilege to serve humans in their twilight years” 

After providing occupational therapy within a hospital and occupational rehabilitation setting, Amira made the difficult decision to step out of the working world so that she could focus on caring for her young daughter, who at the time had been diagnosed with a chronic illness. 

After four years, however, she was back in the job market, needing to return to work temporarily for financial reasons. 

“An opportunity arose at a local aged care home,” she remembers. “I was reluctant but took on the role, thinking I’d only stay for six weeks.” 

Amira ended up staying for almost two years, falling in love with the job and knowing that aged care was where she’d spend the rest of her career.  

What caused such a dramatic change in attitude? 

“It was a gradual shift of perspective,” she explains. “Firstly, I discovered that aged care involves many aspects of occupational therapy that I’m most passionate about, such as pain management, equipment prescription, stroke rehabilitation, and manual handling processes. 

“I also became aware that it is an immense privilege to serve humans in their twilight years. You could literally be the last person to hold their hand before they pass away – I began to realise that sharing these precious moments with people is a real honour.” 

What’s it like working as an Occupational Therapist in home care? 

Amira applied for an Occupational Therapist role with BaptistCare at home at the end of 2019. With continued caring requirements for her family, she needed a role that offered plenty of flexibility.  

“BaptistCare bent over backwards to make it work for me,” she says. “They offered me the role and I haven’t looked back since.” 

Amira says her days are highly varied, engaging, and incredibly rewarding. 

Like most occupational therapists, she starts her day by working through referrals and reading up on each client’s situation before making initial contact.  

Her day-to-day tasks might include: 

• Making calls to new clients or their Next Of Kin, and holding an initial discussion about their situation and needs  
• Spending the day on the road, driving to clients’ homes and conducting in-person consultations 
• Visiting homes and assessing clients’ day-to-day activities such as cooking a meal, going to the bathroom, or getting dressed 
• Attending to paperwork, writing reports to government bodies and for other stakeholders who advocate for the client’s right to access equipment and other interventions.  

“I’m always looking for opportunities where we can restore independence in the activities of day-to-day living, and where there might be gaps in safety, function, or emotional resilience,” says Amira. 

This last point may come as a surprise to some, but Amira says that gauging her clients’ emotional resilience and attitude toward ageing is crucial when it comes to occupational therapy in home care.  

“We’re trying to establish how much change we can push,” Amira explains. “In older age, this can be difficult to measure. I think there is a universal vulnerability that older people experience, which sometimes makes change for the older person difficult to cope with – it’s no reflection on character, it’s just part of being human.” 

“My job is to show them that we all come to a time in our life when we need the help of another human being.” 

Occupational therapists like Amira support clients to continue participating in activities of day-to-day living. 

Building trust 

In this sense, building a trusting relationship with her clients is often Amira’s first priority.   

“It can be a challenge,” she says. “Clients are sometimes confused about what I do and think I’m there to tell them they must move into residential aged care. They are often quite anxious by the time I arrive.” 

Amira says that she deals with this by practising empathy, humility, and where appropriate, humour to break the ice.  

“I meet clients wherever they’re at emotionally in their ageing experience,” she says. “Sometimes making them laugh helps to soften a situation. Other times, it’s about simply acknowledging that somebody’s situation is difficult, whilst finding ways for them to live with meaning and purpose.” 

Amira works hard to ensure her clients are active participants in developing their own goals – an approach that has been proven to get the best possible results. 

“Occupational therapists are always wanting to choose positive and enabling language,” Amira explains. “This helps our clients to start shifting their thinking from ‘I can’t’, to, ‘I can’. Together we work on creating realistic, safe, and meaningful goals, so they can live their best possible life.”  

“Empowerment looks a bit like coaching - once the client knows that they are in the driver’s seat, they start to develop trust, and that’s when we can really start to make positive changes.” 

Amira says that a supportive and caring employer like BaptistCare enables her to deliver the best possible care to her clients.   

What’s it like working for BaptistCare at home? 

“The culture here is genuine, and BaptistCare managers lead with love, kindness and respect – you see it filter down into every other role,” Amira says. 

“I was always drawn to BaptistCare’s Christian values, particularly their ethos of love. I don’t think we can serve older people without love and compassion.”    

Amira feels that her voice is heard, and her professional opinion respected and trusted. “Our team of BaptistCare at home occupational therapists meet regularly to share ideas on client interventions – we’re a close-knit team and we support one another in the work that we do.”  

“By taking such care of their employees and offering that ‘behind the scenes’ support, BaptistCare enables us, in turn, to bring the same energy and compassion to our clients.”  

Join the BaptistCare at home team 

We invite you to join one of Australia’s largest and most trusted providers of home care, delivering loving, respectful, and reliable care to 9,000 people in their homes across NSW and the ACT.  

You’ll receive a competitive salary with flexible hours that can fit around the other commitments in your life. We will support you, value you, and empower you to learn and progress throughout your time with us. Explore our current opportunities via the link below.