Cognition Clinical Lead and Occupational Therapist (OT), Monash Health
Research project: To implement and embed the cognitive assessment framework into occupational therapy practice in a range of clinical settings at Monash Health.
Danielle Byrne is one of our scholarship recipients of the 2025 Implementation Mentoring Program. This 12-month program supports clinicians, nurses, improvement facilitators, health-service managers and implementation researchers with new evidence-informed learnings and mentorship opportunities that will support the successful implementation of their real-world health service projects.
Can you tell us about yourself and your career journey to date?
I’ve been an Occupational Therapist for 20 years and have specialised in neurosciences for much of my career. I completed a postgraduate degree in Clinical Neurological Rehab in Occupational Therapy in 2019 and part of this led to a publication of current practice for Australian OT’s in sensory assessment post stroke. I have worked in several health organisations in the UK and Australia and currently hold the position of the Cognition Clinical Lead at Monash Health. This has been a slight deviation from pure neurosciences OT career but the application of cognition into more diverse populations of dementia and delirium has driven me to explore more deeply this fascinating and challenging side of clinical practice. I have been fortunate to participate in a range of research and quality projects as part of my current role and believe this is a key aspect of creating positive change in the way we do things for and with our patients.
Tell us about your project including the significance of your project and the healthcare problem it intends to solve?
I am currently leading the development and implementation of a cognitive assessment framework for Occupational Therapists at Monash Health. One of the key roles of Occupational Therapists is understanding how best to assess cognition (i.e. selecting appropriate cognitive screening tools), and how this impacts the individual’s ability to successfully participate in occupations (i.e. engaging in meaningful, everyday activities). We recognised reduced confidence in our Occupational Therapists’ assessment selection, and identified a need to help clinicians develop their clinical reasoning skills. We undertook benchmarking with other health networks to establish how this gap is addressed in other settings. This has progressed to the development of an evidence based, cognitive assessment framework which includes a foundational document to support and enhance clinician’s clinical reasoning skills. We are at the implementation phase of this project presently.
What does it mean for you and your work to be supported by this 12-month mentoring program?
Monash Health employs close to 300 Occupational Therapists, so a robust implementation plan is critical to ensure the success of this project. The mentoring program will ensure our implementation is evidence informed, fit for purpose and ultimately successful in its mission to enhance our OT practice.
What knowledge and skills are you hoping to acquire during the program?
Theoretical models and their applications, delivering implementation science in an evidence-based way, and learning key considerations for leading implementation science projects. These skills will assist my work leading future projects and fostering skills in others.
Why do you think programs like this are important for healthcare practitioners and the healthcare sector?
As healthcare practitioners we have varying levels of exposure to research processes and opportunities to understand how best to implement quality improvement projects that make actual impact and improvement to patient care. I think that we think that we are good at identifying problems and trying to input solutions, however changing clinician behaviour to implement real change remains a challenge. This critical component can be the balancing factor in determining actual and positive change, leading to improved outcomes in patient care. Programs like this help bridge that gap and ensure clinicians are well equipped to perform quality research work on the ground.
What impact can you foresee programs like this having on the healthcare sector and clients who access healthcare services?
Programs like this help address the 15-year knowledge-translation gap by encouraging well structured but rapid implementation of change ideas. The result is that patients/clients see the benefits of change sooner and the healthcare sector becomes more agile.
For more information visit the Implementation Improvement in Healthcare Mentoring Program.
