Ten minutes with JoAnne Neary of RehabCare
JoAnne Neary, New Directions Project Executive with RehabCare, part of the Rehab Group.
JoAnne Neary enjoys her role as New Directions Project Executive with RehabCare, part of the Rehab Group.
Rehab Group has a presence in communities across the country. Itās part of the fabric of Irish society. JoAnneās role is in RehabCare, the health and social care division, but the organisation also encompasses National Learning Network (NLN), a person-centric supported education service, and Rehab Enterprises, a social enterprise employing people with disabilities.
While the organisation is vast and varied, there is a central ethos across Rehab Group to put the voices and experiences of people with disabilities to the forefront, to enable people to thrive and reach higher levels of independence.
Much of my paid and voluntary roles in the past were centred on human rights and social justice. I worked in the disability sector many years ago but previous to joining Rehab, my focus was primarily on gender-based violence.
RehabCare has always had a big presence in the small town I grew up in. So, I had some prior awareness of the work done by the organisation. Over time, I came to know people who attended RehabCare day services and others who worked there. What always struck me was how highly they spoke of it.
Since completing my Masterās Degree, I worked on some brilliant and interesting research projects, and to me, research felt like a real privilege because I was building and galvanising my own knowledge base in an area I felt passionate about. I hadnāt even contemplated shifting my focus until someone sent me on a job advertisement for the New Directions Project Executive role with a text saying ā¦ "I think youād love this".
The organisation is dynamic with many pockets of innovation, talent and passion throughout. Iām discovering more of these through the internal audits Iām conducting across the services I link in with, and through other nationwide projects. One of the most pertinent ones being the āremodelling of day servicesā project currently underway. Weāre paying special attention to the development of older personās services, exploring what that may look like, what that particular cohort of people need and want to live rich lives and what is required from us to support them realise that.
We also have an acute awareness of the cultural shift made around disability day services. Weāve moved away from congregated settings to environments which aim to be flexible enough to support individuals with disabilities access the āuniversal good things in lifeā we all want to pursueā¦families, friends, opportunities to discover and develop our skills, gifts, talents, play a role in making the important decisions in our lives, get paid work etc.
The HSE recently funded a āLeadership Change Makerā course. There was a lot to learn but what I valued most was the space it gave us to reflect on, (so much!), how best we can imbed positive cultures into our everyday work practices, and continue to support people to live lives of their own choosing. You could say that it is daunting when you think of the extent of the barriers faced by some people. Barriers to things they have rights to, respect and value within their communities, access to paid employment, meaningful relationships, or you could say, that we can always do more, together, to remove them.
Working in this kind of environment, where weāre all focused on influencing perspectives and making a true impact, is what drives me forward. My colleagues in NLN are passionate about providing high-quality and individualised training courses which truly transform the lives of thousands of students. In our Enterprises division, the teams are dedicated to creating sustainable employment. Part of this involves working side by side with employers and businesses, to integrate more people with disabilities into their workforce and to support employersā diversity and inclusion goals.
The people I meet and work with, and the varied nature of my role is the best part of my job. Mine is a supportive role and is cross departmental. I am one of several Project Executives nationwide. The main focus of the role is ensuring that our services are aligned with the New Directions Interim standards. It is a broad remit, but in essence it comes back to supporting services to support the individuals who use RehabCare services to live lives of their own choosing in their communities. So many of my colleagues are passionate about this, and some are so incredibly creative with how they extend their support. We buoy each other up, we energise each other.
The professional advice I have received to date, which I value most is that imparted to me by my manager, William. I value it most because it is genuine. It resonates with me personally and makes me feel very supported in my role.
That is:
- Venture outside of your comfort zone. Do the thing that scares you, he would say ask the stupid question, I would say that there is no such thing as a stupid question!
- Trust your own ability to do the job that you are doing.
- Be yourself at work. We spend a lot of time with our "work family" and we are all just people doing our best. There isn't enough time, space and effort to put forward a "work" version of you. Authenticity shines through and leaning into your true self makes you happier which ultimately allows others to be comfortable in your presence.
Along with the abovementioned, I would say that you should not take feedback on your work as criticism or personally in any way. Rather, use this as an opportunity to learn and improve. Absolutely, never stress over something that you have no control over.
Self-care is hugely important. My MA dissertation explored the impacts of honour codes on womenās lives in Ireland, and one outstanding finding from this for me was the expectation that women ought to be selfless and self-sacrificing. We see this across all sectors. In a capitalist society, it became the expectation that the harder you worked, the more you potentially earned in paid employment which in turn deems you to be more valuable to society. An unfair imposed expectation which perpetuates the devaluation of too many people with disabilities. Too often, we see people devote too much time to everyday duties (paid and unpaid) to the neglect of their own self-care. My advice would be to actively make time to practice self-care, be that whatever it is for you, listening to the birds, walking with friends, reading a book. Making time for yourself is key. When youāre feeling good, everything you do will be better.
Trust in your abilities. Be determined. Be curious, do your research, it is okay not to know everything from the get-go. As I mentioned above, it had been quite a while since I had worked in the area of disabilities. At the beginning of my application process, terms such as person-centeredness and New Directions were not as much part of my vocabulary. Know what is required. Identify how your own unique collective experience and strengths will lend itself well to the role. Learn more about what you do not know but should, and be open to continuing to learn and grow.
- Authenticity. Be yourself.
- The ability to self-reflect. Reflect with others too.
- Value everyone.
- Determination.
- Creativity, and I do not mean that in a literal scissors and pritt-stick kind of way. Indulge yourself in thinking outside of the box and apply this to your work.
- I prefer collective leadership styles to traditional ones, work with people and bring them with you. āAlone we can do so little, together we can do so muchā.
- Good things take time.
- Consistency is the key to success.
You canāt beat a boat holiday on the River Shannon.
I am on a fitness journey, continuing to set myself new challenges and goals (and occasionally question my sanity). Iāve become slightly obsessed with looking at videos on how to improve my hyrox techniques.
One that is shared.
