Ms Ellen O’Dea
Ms Ellen O’Dea
Occupational Therapy Manager
Health Service Executive (HSE)
Ellen O’Dea graduated in 2005 from Brunel University College, London with a BSC (Hons) in Occupational Therapy. She worked as an Occupational Therapist for 11 years in both community and hospital settings in the UK, Australia and Ireland. Ellen has always had an interest in accessibility issues. As an occupational therapist she specialised in both seating and wheelchair prescription and in the impact that environmental controls have on quality of life and a person’s ability to function at home and in the community. She presented at Occupational Therapy Housing Conference in 2007 on “Planning Environmental Controls for New Builds: A user & therapist’s perspective”.
For the past three and a half years she has been working as Primary Care Manager in Dublin South City Local Health Office. Her role has included supporting the South Inner City GP Partnership and in developing primary care teams and centres within the Local Health Office. In 2010 HSE Dublin South City Local Health Office successfully participated in the O2 Ability Awards 2010 programme and achieved the status of “Ability Company” in the following area of best practice: “Environmental Accessibility” for the work in Irishtown and Ringsend Primary Care Centre. Irishtown and Ringsend Primary Care Team were also finalists in the Crystal Clear Literacy Awards for the ‘Irishtown Primary Care Centre Brochure’.