Discovering BCHS: Ashlee Lance
- Wednesday 2 November 2016
- Written by BCHS
ASHLEE Lance plays the flute, ukulele and sings in a cover band, she has a keen eye for interior design, and is expecting her first baby in December.
She is also an award-winning physiotherapist working with children as part of Bendigo Community Health Services’ multi-disciplinary paediatric team.
And if you think her role as a physiotherapist is all about massages, manipulation and making exercise programs for clients, think again.
“There’s definitely an aspect to physiotherapy that’s hands on and exercise prescription, but that wouldn’t even constitute half of what we do, particularly in paediatrics,” Ashlee says.
Instead, she works holistically to identify the many different issues that may be affecting a child’s ability to participate in their day-to-day and sporting activities at school and at home.
“For example, I might need to work with an adolescent to find out what they perceive as their barriers to being able to go to school - and they might not be physical ones,” she explains.
“They may be worried about how they look if they’re using a gait aid, or worried about not being able to walk fast enough to catch the bus home.
“We have to think outside the box and realise it is not just this child’s leg that’s making it tricky for them to do what they need to. There can be a lot more going on.
“You might have a child come in with pain at night and part of their treatment might be to get them to talk to their mum about what they are worried about before they go to bed.
“The more you work in this area, the more you understand kids can be complicated. They are very interesting little people, and things aren’t always simply black or white.”
Ashlee grew up in Bendigo and studied physiotherapy at La Trobe University, spending two years at the local campus and two years in Melbourne.
She always had her sights set on working with children and took time off during her degree to work for 12 months as a physio assistant in the Royal Children’s Hospital’s physio team.
“That made it easier to get into paediatrics after my course, because I already had experience.
“I stayed on their weekend roster while finishing third and fourth year of uni, and went onto the weekend physiotherapy roster when I graduated.”
Ashlee spent two years after university working at the Ballarat Specialist School, continuing her weekends at RCH and doing some private contract work for children recovering from orthopaedic surgery.
She joined BCHS at the start of 2012, before the paediatric physiotherapy service existed, and worked tirelessly to develop the program for children aged 0-14 at the Kangaroo Flat site.
Her efforts were acknowledged when she became one of only two allied health professionals to win a Victorian Rural Health Award from the Rural Workforce Agency Victoria in 2013.
Ashlee views it as an award for BCHS as a collective, rather than an individual accolade, and is proud of what the paediatric service offers to the Bendigo community.
“We looked at what other services there were in the area and identified a gap,” she says of the decision to establish the program.
“There are obviously excellent private physios here and Bendigo Health offers some great paediatric physio services. But a low-acuity, easily accessible, low-cost service was missing.”
Ashlee works with the BCHS doctors, paediatricians, allied health professionals and family and support services to provide a collaborative service addressing varied needs.
She also works very closely with paediatric podiatrist Emma Millard, with joint assessments two days per week.
Her clients are referred through maternal and child health nurses, GPs, paediatricians and other health professionals. At least half of them are babies under 12 months old.
Many are at high risk of problems because they were born premature, had undergone cardiac surgery, or had other medical issues requiring monitoring.
Some have difficulties relating to their head shape or neck, often from the birthing process, or postural issues and hip problems. Others come for gross motor development assessments.
“I see lots and lots of babies, which has made me very clucky,” laughs Ashlee, who is also involved in a joint Growth and Development Clinic with the paediatric registrar, monitoring babies born prior to 32 weeks’ gestation.
She also treats toddlers and school-aged children with pain, sporting injuries, concerns about their walking, and a wide range of other issues.
“Sometimes kids present with a physical issue, but working holistically we can identify a whole lot of different things that are impacting on their ability to participate.
“So we can access different services for them and work closely with their school and their family at home to help them achieve the best outcomes.”
Ashlee is looking forward to the opening of the revolutionary new BCHS kidzspace children and family services centre being built beside the existing facilities at Kangaroo Flat.
She hopes it will allow the paediatric physiotherapy and associated services to expand.
“It will be exciting to see what we can provide for Bendigo and what opportunities having the new building will give us in terms of running new groups, providing our services in different ways and collaborating more.”
Ashlee has completed several child-focussed short courses through Monash University and her recent professional development has been in the areas of family violence, trauma and infant mental health.
She believes it is important for community health professionals to broaden their knowledge in areas like these that can impact on the children and families that come through their doors.
Ashlee will further expand her skills later this year when she and husband Dale welcome their first child into the world, so there are exciting personal times ahead as well.
The couple has just bought a house on an acre block and they enjoy spending their spare time trying to landscape their surrounds.
Ashlee is also a member of the four-member cover band Annie Smalls, which plays occasional gigs at local pubs performing a mix of pop, rock, hip hop and alternative music.
“I am also studying a diploma of interior design,” she says, “not because I want to change careers but because I felt like studying and wanted to do something creative and different.
“I don’t know if I will ever work in that area… but I will have a nice house!!”
For more information about BCHS paediatric physiotherapy service, phone the Kangaroo Flat site on 5434 4300.
