About Us
Belinda DeGaris
Belinda is an Accredited Hand Therapist (as awarded by the Australia Hand Therapy Association); she graduated with a Bachelor of Occupational Therapy at the University of South Australia. Belinda has been involved with many private hand therapy practices across Australia since 2015, gaining expertise of various skills and techniques. She has also volunteered in Bangladesh and South Africa as an Occupational Therapy assistant. Belinda has worked in private practice in Launceston, Tasmania and Wagga Wagga, NSW; before moving back to Adelaide. She has worked at Flinders Medical Centre, the Royal Adelaide Hospital and is currently at The Queen Elizabeth Hospital.
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Belinda is dedicated in gaining the best outcomes for her patients and using up-to-date evidenced based practice for the assessment and treatment of upper-limb conditions, staying at the fore-front of hand therapy. She has a special interest in sporting injuries, including fractures, sprains and ligament injuries. She thoroughly enjoys the problem solving involved with injury diagnosis and is well vetted in the assessment of wrist injuries, chronic or unknown pain and the management of arthritic pain. Belinda is also experienced with the treatment of traumatic and post-operative hand injuries. Working in a hospital setting means liaising closely with ED doctors, plastic and orthopaedic surgeons and presentation of a wide range of traumatic injuries.
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Belinda currently teaches the "Hand Therapy and Splinting" course that the University of South Australia to undergraduate Occupational Therapy students. She was a part of the national Australian Hand Therapy Association (AHTA) conference committee in Adelaide in 2017; volunteered on the AHTA marketing committee in 2018 and is now the South Australian rep for continuing professional development.
Hannah Bowley
Hannah completed her master of Occupational Therapy (Grad Entry) from The University of South Australia in 2007, and since 2015 has worked in Hand Therapy across The Queen Elizabeth Hospital, The Royal Adelaide Hospital (RAH), and The Lyell McEwin Hospital; she has also worked in the Burns unit at The RAH.
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In additional to her work at Adelaide Hand Therapy, Hannah currently works in Hand Therapy department at Flinders Medical Centre. She enjoys the combination of private practice with public health to maintain skills in treating a diverse range of hand and upper limb injuries. Hannah is an associate member of the Australian Hand Therapy Association (AHTA) and is actively involved in the association.
Hannah previously played professional basketball and has an interest in treating sporting injuries and assisting athletes to return to competition as soon as possible. She is experienced in the management carpal tunnel syndrome and DeQuervain’s tenosynovitis - particularly when related to pregnancy or post natal; and other chronic conditions such as, osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis. Hannah is experienced in the treatment of fractures, tendon injuries, joint dislocations, burns and scar management.
Erica Elliot
Erica is an Accredited Hand Therapist (as awarded by the Australian Hand Therapy Association), a University of South Australia trained Occupational Therapist and has her Masters of Health Science degree from Monash University. She has over 20 years’ experience as an Occupational Therapist, with over 18 years working in the area of hand therapy in both Australia and overseas. Erica has worked primarily in the public service (SA Health and the National Health Service, UK) working in Adelaide at both the Royal Adelaide Hospital (RAH) and as hand therapy team leader at Flinders Medical Centre. She has also worked in the Burns Unit at the RAH.
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Along with Kathy and Belinda, Erica was on the committee to organise the national AHTA conference in Adelaide in 2017. She joined the AHTA in 2006 as an associate and has been a full member of the AHTA since 2013.
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Erica is passionate about evidenced-based care and has presented several free papers at national AHTA conferences and locally at the South Australian Hand Surgeon Society annual meetings. Erica has been co-author of a journal article in the peer-reviewed Journal of Hand Therapy, and was an invited speaker at the 2016 AHTA national conference in Sydney. Erica has previously taught the post-graduate Occupational Therapy splinting workshops at Flinders University and scar management workshops at the University of South Australia for undergraduate students.
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Erica has a particular interest in managing major trauma and post-surgical conditions, including tendon repairs, fractures, scar management including burns, and joint replacements.
Nicole Dillon
Nicole graduated with a Bachelor degree in Occupational Therapy from the University of South Australia in 2014. She has since worked in a range of hospital and rehab settings in Adelaide including the RAH, TQEH and Hampstead Rehab Centre. Nicole has also worked in acute care for the National Health Service (NHS) in the United Kingdom.
Nicole is an active participant of the Australian Hand Therapy Association (AHTA). She has a particular interest in treating traumatic and post-operative hand injuries such as fractures, tendon repairs, and ligament injuries. Nicole enjoys working across both the private and public sector, ensuring continuous learning and an evidence-based approach to care.
Nicole has worked as an Occupational Therapist across a variety of departments in acute, subacute and outpatient settings in areas including Plastics, Orthopaedics, Stroke and Neurology, General Medical and Rehabilitation units, and Hand Therapy. Her wide skill set and clinical knowledge of a variety of conditions and injuries, along with experience working alongside nursing, medical and allied health teams, ensures a high quality of care for her clients.
Kathy Minchin
Kathy has since retired and is no longer consulting at Adelaide Hand Therapy. She continues to actively participate in the small but mighty clinic through teaching, mentoring and social events.
Adelaide Hand Therapy has 3x extremely qualified therapists, we pride ourselves on providing the highest quality of care and up to date principles of hand therapy.