Dr Laine Chilman is a full-time Lecturer in Occupational Therapy. She is committed to research that enhances children's lives by supporting parents. She investigates occupational therapy and parenting interventions that promote child development and wellbeing, particularly in terms of child behaviour, play, picky eating, and the vital support systems necessary for optimal development. Specifically, her interest in understanding and mitigating the impact of picky eating on families fuelled her to uncover innovative solutions for healthcare practices, including supporting parents through occupational performance coaching. Laine's work emphasises her dedication to co-design with First Nation communities and a lived experience perspective, which enriches the research process.
Laine is versatile, with experience in qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods approaches. She recognises that each methodology brings unique insights depending on the research context. Over her career, Laine has been invited to speak at national conferences and local research forums, receiving the Occupational Therapy Australia Postgraduate student award whilst completing her PhD.
As a researcher, Laine embodies her values of objectivity, honesty, and openness, fostering a compassionate approach to her work. Furthermore, Laine's commitment to teaching and mentoring the next generation of practitioners and researchers shines through in her emerging publication record and honours student supervision. Laine has worked as an occupational therapist and registered nurse both in Australia and England. She is passionate about student learning and understands the importance of linking theoretical knowledge with clinical practice.
Professional Memberships
- Occupational Therapy Australia- including paediatric and coaching special interest groups
- Core member of the Indigenous and Transcultural Research Centre (ITRC), UniSC
- Committee member, Australian Health Ethics Committee, 2024-2027, Member with expertise in nursing and allied health practices
Awards and Fellowships
- 2024 Vice-Chancellor and President’s Award for Excellence in Research Impact, Early Career Academic. Awarded by the University of the Sunshine Coast.
- 2024 UniSC Learning and Teaching Excellence Award: Innovation or Leadership in Learning and Teaching and/or Student Experience (team award)
- 2024 Endorsed Occupational Performance Coaching (OPC) Trainer Awarded by the University of Otago
- 2022 Senior Fellowship of the Higher Education Academy
- 2021 Occupational Therapy Australia QLD Division Postgraduate Student Award
Professional Social Media
Honours and HDR Projects
Honours
- The Lived Experiences of Fathers in Mealtimes: A Thematic Synthesis of Qualitative Literature
- Exploring occupational therapy practice with children who are picky eaters and their families
- Investigating First Nation People’s worldviews on feeding and mealtimes on a global scale
- An investigation into how early childhood educators working in early childhood settings play during free play time
- Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD): Australian occupational therapists’ knowledge, experiences and practices
- A novel perturbation device to improve walking gait characteristics and motor symptoms in Parkinson’s Disease
- Investigating quality school-based playgroups value in supporting school transition through an occupational therapy lens
- Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD): Australian occupational therapists’ knowledge, experiences and practices.
- Investigating parental weight bias and feeding practices.
- Paternal experiences of picky eating.
- Picky Eating in Children: Examining interventions and goal setting.
- Investigating quality school-based playgroups value in supporting school transition through an occupational therapy lens.
- Aligning occupational therapy student learning to workforce needs in Australia using an innovative education module: ‘Working with Allied Health Assistants’ (KA).
- Teaching Communication skills with parents and carers of children in allied health university programs.
- Attachment Matters: Tailoring Occupational Performance Coaching to Paternal Preferences Exploring sustainable models for Occupational Therapy clinical practice education.
- Empowering Learners: Exploring the Impact of Occupational Performance Coaching in educational setting.
- The Occupational Therapy Role in Preparing Parents for Parenthood to Develop Secure and Healthy Relationships with their Child.
HDR
- Deepening our understanding of Parental Playfulness.
- A pilot study investigating outcomes of “The Regulation Roadmap” training package and associated “Regul8” program for 10-14-year-old students and their families.
- Exploring policy and practice: parents’ perspectives of facilitators to inclusion for children with disabilities in early childhood education and care settings.
- New graduate occupational therapists working in Australian paediatric settings: Skills, knowledge, and their perceived role.
Research grants
| Project name | Investigators | Funding Body | Year/s |
|---|---|---|---|
| Associations between outcomes using the Vona du Toit Model of Creative Ability and other measures of occupational performance frequently used in mental health occupational therapy. |
Dr Laine Chilman Professor Pamela Meredith Carla van Heerden Sam Bunker |
Vona and Marié du Toit Research Grant (R10,000) | 2025-2026 |
| Unlocking Precision Healthcare: Tailoring feeding disorder management for culturally diverse children to sustain improvements in health outcomes | Dr Laine Chilman Dr Laura Burritt Associate Professor Thuy Frakking Anabelle Marozza Tracy Grant Associate Professor Fiona Graham |
Prince Charles Hospital Foundation (A$37,709) |
2024-2026 |
| A Culturally Responsive Coaching Intervention for Paediatric Feeding Disorders: A Pilot RCT Informed by First Nations Perspective | Dr Laine Chilman Associate Professor Thuy Frakking |
UniSC SPARK Professional Development (A$8,528) | 2024-2025 |
| Advanced Care Planning Education for Health Professionals (ACPEd) | Dr Wendy Kinton Associate Professor Florin Oprescu Dr Laine Chilman Dr Laura Burritt |
Wishlist (A$1,970) | 2024-2025 |
| Investigating associations between cognitive levels, occupation participation, sensory processing, and volition in adults diagnosed with psychosocial disability | Dr Laine Chilman Professor Pamela Meredith Carla Van Heerden Sam Aquilina |
UniSC Launch Partnership Grant (A$25,350) | 2024-2025 |
| Perturbation training to improve falls risk, walking, motor symptoms and balance in Parkinson’s Disease: a proof-of-concept trial. | Associate Professor Suzanne Broadbent Dr Max Stuelcken Dr Sonja Coetzee A/ Prof Mark Sayers Dr Laine Chilman Dr Prasath Jayakaran |
UniSC Impact grant (A$24,990) |
2024-2025 |
| Occupational Performance Coaching (OPC): An Evidence-based Intervention for Priority Population | Dr Laine Chilman Associate Professor Fiona Graham Professor Pam Meredith Dr Laura Burritt Dr Barnaby Dixson |
UniSC Connect Grant (A$9,600) |
2023-2025 |
| Exploring factors to support culturally appropriate healthy feeding practices for Australian First Nations families with young children | Dr Laine Chilman Professor Pamela Meredith Asmita Mudholkar Dr Kathryn Wehnham |
UniSC Launch Partnership Grant (A$25,350) |
2022-2024 |
Research areas
- Picky eating
- Occupational Performance Coaching
- Cross-cultural knowledges
- Knowledge and confidence of new graduate occupational therapists
- Social determinants of health and support children with low socioeconomic backgrounds
- Early childhood play and playgroups
- Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD)
- Parenting, feeding practices and family mealtimes
- End of Life care
- Psychosocial disability
Teaching areas
- OCC102 Participation in Occupation
- OCC201 Occupational Therapy Theory
- OCC202 Therapeutic Skills
- OCC212 Evaluation of Occupational Performance
- OCC222 Neurological Causes of Occupational Dysfunction
- OCC232 Foundational Placement Competencies in Allied Health
- OCC301 Enabling Occupation: The Child and Adolescent
- OCC312 Enabling Occupation: The Older Person
- OCC432 Occupational Therapy Innovation
- OCC442 Occupational Therapy Reasoning, Research & Evaluation (Project Pathway)
- OCC452 Occupational Therapy Reasoning, Research & Evaluation (Research Pathway)
Program coordinator
Dr Laine Chilman's specialist areas of knowledge encompass paediatric occupational therapy, focusing on childhood disordered eating, early childhood play, parenting and mealtimes, sharing of First Nations knowledges and occupational performance coaching.
In the news
Parents the key to tackling kids’ picky eating: research findings
29 Apr 2024Five years of UniSC-led research into the pesky problem of picky eating by children suggests that therapists should focus more on empowering parents to ease family angst at the dinner table.
Picky eating research aims to help family mealtimes
16 Sep 2021New USC Australia research has identified the most common external factors likely to increase or decrease picky eating in children under 10