About Jelmer

Jelmer is an Occupational Therapist with over 20 years of clinical experience of working with older people and their family caregivers in both the public and private health sector. She is registered with the Occupational Therapy Board of Australia through AHPRA (Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Authority) and an ongoing member of Occupational Therapy Australia, the leading professional association.

In 2023 Jelmer created Holistic Care Coordination, a private Occupational Therapy practice supporting older clients and their families with improved wellbeing and quality of life, drawing on her experiences to provide:

  • Comprehensive aged care assessment

  • Complex care coordination

  • Caregiver education and wellbeing

  • Post diagnostic dementia support

  • Reablement Approaches

  • Cognitive Rehabilitation and Therapy

  • Falls Prevention and Risk Minimisation

Jelmer’s approach is warm and empathetic, empowering carers and clients through motivational interviewing to focus on what individuals CAN do, not what they have lost. Support is delivered in the client’s home environment, with the option of Telehealth available for clients out of region. Using a client-centred and strengths-based approach to care, Jelmer promotes a partnership between client and caregiver, advocating for caregiver wellbeing as the therapeutic medium to achieving the best outcomes for loved ones in their care.

Jelmer is passionate about supporting people living with dementia, particularly younger-onset or more rare forms of dementia. She delivers evidence-based cognitive rehabilitation to clients with mild to moderate dementia and teaches memory support strategies to clients concerned about cognitive changes.

Jelmer has recently joined the Advisory Group for the implementation trial of the SPICE program (Sustainable Personalised Interventions for Cognition, Care & Engagement) delivered through Barwon Health in conjunction with Australian Dementia Network.

Jelmer commenced her professional years working at the Royal Melbourne Hospital, and was instantly drawn to working in General Medicine / Aged Care. She has held a number of Complex Discharge Planning roles in Emergency Departments at the Royal Melbourne Hospital and University Hospital Geelong, referring clients presenting to Emergency departments back into community based support and services, rather than being admitted to hospital. She has supported families as community based Case Manager (Home Care Packages) and through Aged Care Assessment roles in Victoria and QLD, and for many years worked with the Barwon Region Cognitive Dementia and Memory Service (CDAMS), a multidisciplinary diagnostic clinic for people concerned with memory and cognition changes.