Julia Dayhew completed a Bachelor of Applied Science (Occupational Therapy) in 1992 at Sydney University. She moved to the Northern Rivers (NSW) in 2001 and has loved raising a family and living in our special regional area.

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Julia is passionate about prevention and assisting people to maximise their wellbeing and independence. She has 30 years of experience working as an Occupational Therapist with a background in balance assessment, fall prevention, healthy ageing, health promotion, mental health plus more.

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Julia worked as a Research Assistant in the 1990's with renowned falls researcher, Professor Stephen Lord (Neuroscience Australia- NeuRA) and her work contributed to findings related to physical and lifestyle risk factors for falls amongst community-dwelling older people. In 2019-21 Julia was an Associate Investigator for the NH&MRC Partnership Grant with NeuRA, regarding a home-based exercise balance program utilising tablet technology, due for availability in 2024. Julia continues to collaborate with the fall researchers at NeuRA, in particular Professor Kim Delbaere and Dr Daina Sturnieks, regarding assessment and interventions for fall risk and balance training.

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Julia worked for 9 years as the NNSW Local Health District Falls Prevention Coordinator and has designed and directed quality hospital and community programs aimed at preventing falls among older people.

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She was the Consultant Occupational Therapist and committee member for the Lismore West Rotary "Safety Lights for Seniors" project, which is currently influencing local and state fall prevention planning amongst key stakeholders.

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Julia is also a singer, songwriter and author of the beloved Monkey audio stories and songs. She came 4th in the 2020 Australian Songwriting Awards for "Funky Monkey" and has great plans in 2023/24 for her recently written stories. Watch this space!