Holly Bridges wins inaugural Excellence in Innovation Award

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Holly Bridges wins inaugural Excellence in Innovation Award

7 May 2018

The Insurance Commission of Western Australia (Insurance Commission) presented Koondoola therapist, Ms Holly Bridges, the inaugural Excellence in Innovation Award at the recent WA Disability Support Awards.

The Insurance Commission sponsors the award to promote innovation in the care sector with the aim of increasing the independence of its clients.

Ms Bridges won the award for her neuroplasticity work that helps people with disabilities improve their physical and social presentations. Ms Bridges has also been recognised internationally for her book ‘Reframe Your Thinking Around Autism’ which outlines this work.

Commission Secretary Kane Blackman congratulated Ms Bridges on the award and recognised her contribution to people with disabilities and their families.

“The Insurance Commission sponsors the Excellence in Innovation Award at the Disability Support Awards because we want to promote new and improved care approaches that can improve the lives of Western Australians.”

“Innovation is key in ensuring the disability sector continues to deliver effective and efficient outcomes to people living with a disability,” he said.

“This was the first year of the Excellence in Innovation Award, and I have been impressed at the quality of submissions”.

The three other finalists for the Excellence in Innovation Award were the AT Chat Team from the Independent Living Centre WA, the ROAM Project Team from VisAbility and Therapy Professional Services – Children’s Services from Rocky Bay.

The Independent Living Centre’s AT Chat is an online peer-to-peer project that shares information, experience and advice about assistive technology.

Led by people with disability for people with disability, the AT Chat team has created an engaged online community that relies less on traditional supports and services for assistive technology.

The ROAM Project Team from VisAbility delivers Remote Orientation and Mobility Services to communities throughout Western Australia. People with vision impairment are now able to access orientation and mobility services via a specialist using a smart phone, headset and video conferencing technology rather than the traditional face-to-face method. This has reduced waiting times for the service and allowed more people in remote and regional WA to travel independently.

The Child Services team at Rocky Bay have used a robot called Milo to engage children with disabilities and help them develop and improve their social skills. Results from the project showed improvements in children’s’ ability to converse, play and understand emotions. The team are now taking Milo to schools and individual sessions to benefit a wider group of children.

See more information about the Excellence in Innovation Award and other Insurance Commission partnerships here.

Page Last Updated 28 Aug 2020

Media contact

Amber Blake
Communications Officer
+61 8 9264 3227
amber.blake@icwa.wa.gov.au