Getting to know your dietitian, Amanda Eldridge
We wanted to give you the opportunity to get to know Active Ability’s senior dietitian Amanda Eldridge, so we’ve asked her a couple of questions so that we can share her answers with you.
Why did you become a dietitian?
I became a dietitian because I love science and value health, and this occupation was a great intersection of the two! In particular, I enjoy the role of a dietitian in preventative healthcare and supporting people to prevent illness and further disability.
What has led to your passion for disability?
Disability is an area of practice that I had the opportunity to work in straight after university, and with limited prior experience I did not know exactly what to expect but was motivated to gain as much from the experience as I could. After over two years in the field, I can’t imagine working in another area. Whilst working for Active Ability, I have had the pleasure of working with lovely clients and their teams to support them to work towards their NDIS goals. I’ve developed a passion for this area of practice and feel rewarded after forming meaningful professional relationships with my clients and seeing their progress towards goals over time.
Do you have a memorable experience of assisting a client to achieve their goals that you’d like to share?
I have plenty! One experience that stands out in particular has been supporting one of my lovely clients to expand her acceptance of different foods and fluids in the context of sensory processing challenges secondary to her disability. Over the course of a couple of years, and intervention spanning nutrition education and desensitisation activities (such as food preparation, food games and cooking), her diet now spans all five food groups (instead of three) and she now drinks water on a daily basis which she never consumed prior to dietetic support. This client of mine also finds it easier to trial new foods now, although it still takes time to build specific foods into regular dietary routine.
What do you like to do in your spare time?
In my spare time I like to spend time at the beach with friends, eat out and get brunch from different cafes, read books, play tennis and swim!
What is your favourite food?
There are almost too many to choose from! Two of my favourites would be raspberries and chocolate.
In another life, if you weren’t a dietitian, what do you think you’d be doing?
Perhaps either practising as a doctor (if I had the scope to focus more on preventative healthcare) or a snowboard instructor. I wonder if I could manage to do both at once?…
What is one thing that people would be surprised to learn about you? Do you have a hidden talent?
I’ve juggled full-time work and a research project for over a year! I’ve presented my research on lifestyle and dementia risk at an international conference, but am still working on that publication.
What is your favourite movie, book and holiday?
Movie: The Dark Knight
Book: Harry Potter (I’m not sure if anything will ever beat HP!)
Holiday: A ski trip to Japan!
Thanks so much to Amanda for sharing more about herself with our community – we hope that you’ve enjoyed getting to know her! If you’d like to arrange services with Amanda or another of our therapists, please contact us today!
Amanda provides Active Ability’s dietetic services in the North Shore, Hills and North West areas of Sydney. Specifically, Amanda provides services in Dural, Castle Hill, West Pennant Hills, Hornsby, Galston, Kenthurst, Cheltenham, Waitara, Turramurra, Killara, Roseville, Chatswood, Cremorne, Mosman, Artarmon, Forestville, Belrose and St Ives.