Suzanne Lazaroo
30 October 2025: Commitment, creativity and care – just some of the attributes that saw the University of Canberra’s Brie Bobinskas win a Consumer Recognition Award at the annual ACT Allied Health Excellence awards recently.
As an Occupational Therapist, Ms Bobinskas works with the Faculty of Health’s Enhancing Allied Health for Older People (EAHOP) project, delivering therapy to residents of the Calvary Haydon aged care home.
The EAHOP project embodied a unique model of care, which embedded various allied health professionals within a residential aged care home, to work with residents and families, general practitioners and staff. It was led by the University’s Professor Stephen Isbel, Deputy Director of the Centre for Ageing Research and Translation (CARAT), under the Faculty of Health.
Ms Bobinskas received the award from Rachel Stephen-Smith MLA, Minister for Health and Minister for Mental Health in the ACT.
“I was honoured to be nominated, and to have received the consumer recognition award – I’m sure this was a hard decision, as I work with many excellent allied health colleagues within different settings in the ACT, who all make a difference in people’s lives,” Ms Bobinskas said.
“I’m grateful for the opportunity to be an occupational therapist – to be able to help people in a time of need, to build upon their strengths and overcome challenges, and to improve their function and quality of life.
“I feel this award also reflects the valuable contribution occupational therapy can make for people in residential aged care – made possible in this circumstance because of Stephen’s clinical trial, the EAHOP project.”
Making the win extra special, the nomination came from Celia Vuckovic, whose mother Gillian Edwards is a resident at Calvary Haydon – a gesture that Ms Bobinskas says, “has been incredibly heartwarming and meaningful”.
“I am always happy when Brie arrives, because I know she’ll do a good job,” Ms Edwards said.
After a severe stroke in 2023, Ms Edwards had no functional use of the right side of her body – and was very upset when doctors told her that she’d be unlikely to walk again.
“From the start, Brie was full of energy and positivity, and her presence began to remove the layer of gloom that had settled over my mum since her discharge from hospital,” Ms Vuckovic said.
“Brie saw my mother as a whole person, and took the time to get to know her and find out what was important to her – she also gave her hope that she could continue to improve.”
Ms Bobinskas built a treatment plan that helped Ms Edwards to incrementally regain independence through small everyday tasks – for instance, working towards building enough strength in her right hand and wrist so that she could begin to feed herself with both hands again.
“In every aspect of her care Brie thinks outside the box, stretches the boundaries of her scope of practice, and advocates for my mum,” Ms Vuckovic said.
Among the tailored options that Ms Bobinskas put in place: rearranging Ms Edwards’ room furniture to enable freer movement and easy access to the things she needs; custom-making a splint and cast to provide support for her right wrist; and working on the mobility of her right arm so that Ms Edwards can participate more fully in the daily exercise class she attends.
“In my opinion though, the most innovative solution to helping my mum regain movement and independence, has been to move her from a power wheelchair into a manual wheelchair,” said Ms Vuckovic.
Spending part of the day in a manual wheelchair with her legs resting on the floor has helped Ms Edwards both use her left, non-paralysed leg and build strength in her right leg.
“One of the things that bothered my mother most about her stroke was to not even be able to consider that she might walk again – but Brie’s innovative thinking and novel use of equipment have now allowed her to ‘walk’ in her wheelchair,” said Ms Vuckovic.
“Brie’s extensive knowledge, deep care, and endless creativity have improved my mum’s quality of life far beyond what we thought was possible after such a catastrophic stroke.”
Photos supplied by Brie Bobinskas and Stephen Isbel.
