Hello, I’m Jo, and I am a highly experienced occupational therapist with over 15 years experience working in the NHS and worldwide. I left my career working as a medical doctor to focus on creating opportunities for people to participate in holistic health. Now, I value my job as an occupational therapist who is dual-qualified in medicine, helping people and services to practically advocate and inform themselves to find meaning, adaptations and purpose so they can participate, provide and thrive whatever life and health throws at them. Especially, I believe in the extraordinary value of a bit of cheerleading to see one through the seemingly impossible.  And as a mountain leader, I enjoy navigation, even over rough terrain, recognising the messy middle is sometimes where the greatest changes occur. 

I love helping people navigate the complexities of health, and finding new ways to safely adapt or remove barriers to participation, whether these stem from a specific life event or diagnosis, or challenges presenting from the wider social determinants of health. I work clinically for the NHS, specifically offering support for long term health conditions, prevention and service integration, and specialist neuro-rehabilitation.  At Vital Adaptation, I provide affordable short-term coaching, expert training and hands-on consultancy for carers, individuals, communities, professionals and third sector organisations looking to make meaningful change in the health sector or their day-to-day lives.

Life happens and sometimes things occur which are outside our control. In these situations, receiving expert help can be invaluable: to assist with an adaptation process, (re)building a sense of purpose and belonging, to support you in a new or established caring role, or to enable your organisation to support change – get in touch! My unique mix of qualifications and clinical experience enables me to truly speak the language of the multi-disciplinary team and navigate across boundaries and through jargon, quickly gaining an understanding of your needs. I’ll help you progress your agreed-upon goals while being sympathetic to the complexities of healthcare delivery and nitty-gritty clinical details. I appreciate the need for evidence-based practice, AND the intricate interplay of diagnosis and function. I also believe in the crucial value that arises from recognising and upskilling simple selfcare activities and self management, to manage health conditions as part of a wider network of interconnected services.

Occupational justice  champions fairness of opportunity, and empowerment towards participation, for quality of life no matter what. Vital Adaptation strives to uphold this humanitarian approach by working to provide affordable and  occupationally-focused coaching and training for a range of individuals and groups across sectors. We believe in sustainable health care, and use of our limited resources carefully and efficiently.  Together, we will identify meaningful goals for you, your organisation or community, and collaboratively find ways to achieve these through adaptation, innovation, equipment or simply, through practice. Welcome!

NB: I hold extensive experience working as a doctor and occupational therapist across sectors, including remote and rural integrated community services, recovery support and young persons/adult mental health, innovation and service quality improvement,  as well as palliative, general practice and secondary (acute) care. These roles have included pain management, A&E, major trauma, neurorehabilitation and general medicine, among others. I also have a wide range of experience teaching at undergraduate and post-graduate level, and hold diploma and masters level qualifications to support my learning. I am a qualified coach (working towards accreditation level) and summer mountain leader (UK), as well as being a member of relevant professional bodies.