Shannon worked with youth as an educator in school child care programs during her postgraduate studies in Ottawa. After obtaining a degree in occupational therapy, she relocated to a rural setting and worked with an adult population for 9 years.  She became a mother during this time frame and has been very happy to have her children in her life and to participate in their endeavours. This has influenced her interest in resuming work with a youth population where the focus is on development, growth, social connections, integration, and belonging.

In the past decade, she has worked as a full-time occupational therapist in a rural regional hospital in the following departments: Rehabilitation, Acute care, Intensive Care Unit, the Surgical unit and Orthopaedics, Outpatients Ambulatory clinic, and in the Mental Health Unit.  With her experience in a rural hospital, she was able to see patients with various healthcare needs and provided continuity of care by following patients from one department to the next in their rehabilitation journey at the hospital. 

She has collaborated with an interdisciplinary team and participated in many family meetings to determine treatment and discharge plans. She administered cognitive assessments, as well as assessments on activities of daily living, where she evaluated patients’ levels of independence with self-care and their abilities to manage household tasks.  She regularly collaborated with occupational therapists in the community. 

She recognizes that with a youth population, where the child and their family are the clients, the client-therapist rapport is pivotal. She believes that her work experience has given her an understanding of how impactful she can be in satisfying care needs.