Join us on Monday, November 30th!

1. Register your interest on Eventbrite

2. On November 30th at 5pm: CLICK HERE TO JOIN THE EVENT

Michelle McInerney 5-5:15pm

Michelle is an academic and researcher in the Australian Catholic University, and has recently submitted her PhD thesis focused on the topic of saliva control in children with cerebral palsy. She graduated as a speech pathologist with a B.Sc. (Hons) in Clinical Speech and Language Studies from Trinity College Dublin in 2000, and later followed with a M.Sc. specialising in paediatric dysphagia in 2008. Michelle has over 16 years’ experience working in acute medical, community and disability healthcare settings. Her research is focused on individuals with CP and interests include: behavioural interventions to improve swallowing, saliva-control and speech-related outcomes to optimise health and well-being; assessment and measurement; and consumer engagement.⁠

Margaret Wallen and Sevastine Katsakis 5:15-5:30pm

Margaret’s research focuses on children and young people with cerebral palsy. Margaret is interested in measurement; evidence-based practice; knowledge translation; and consumer engagement in research. As leader of the consumer involvement theme, she is working with researchers, young people with cerebral palsy and their families to integrate the consumer voice into every facet of CP-Achieve.

Sevastine is passionate about connecting with people, mental health and overall well-being, especially in children and young adults. She has cerebral palsy herself and therefore is able to use her lived experience and understanding of the condition to connect and empathise with individuals and families. Sevastine has a background in psychology and clinical counselling. Her interests for the CRE include engaging the community in the research, increasing participation and improving outcomes, while also reaching people who are not linked in to hospital services.

FAQ:

What is CP-Achieve?

The Centre of Research Excellence: Australian Centre for Health, Independence, Economic Participation and Value Enhanced Care for adolescents and young adults with cerebral palsy (CP-Achieve). CP-ACHIEVE is a five year, NHMRC funded Centre of Research Excellence project that supports collaborative research and development in cerebral palsy research. The team consists of a multidisciplinary group of adolescents and young adults with cerebral palsy, families, clinicians, researchers and students that are all working together to fulfil CP-Achieve’s aims. CP-Achieve commenced in February 2020 and will finish in 2025.

What does CP-Achieve do?

CP-ACHIEVE fosters health care access and promotes healthy lifestyle interventions to improve community participation. Two overarching aims guide the research program: to improve physical and mental health, and to build supportive family, community and health service environments. The outcomes of CP-Achieve are to establish rigorous population-based data about the scope of health and participation problems, best practices and guidelines for health and disability service providers, means to empower adolescents and young adults with cerebral palsy to use health and community services, and models of cost-effectiveness to inform policy and practice, and drive value-enhanced care.