Since graduating in 2004, Sarah has worked as an occupational therapist in Australia and the United Kingdom. She has a broad knowledge base in biomedical sciences which complements her occupational therapy practice. Sarah has extensive clinical experience working with adults with physical and neurological conditions in community-based teams. She has a particular interest in working with clients who have neurological conditions with an emphasis on functional cognition, which Sarah feel’s is fundamental to achieving and maintaining community living and promoting participation and quality of life.
Sarah’s PhD entitled Exploring an occupation-based metacognitive strategy approach to improve occupational performance, executive functioning and self-efficacy of adults with Parkinson’s Disease investigates the efficacy and feasibility of the Cognitive Orientation to daily Occupational Performance approach for people with Parkinson’s Disease. Sarah has also been involved in research investigating the relationship between upper limb range of motion and quality of life following a stroke, on-road driving remediation to returning to driving after a brain injury, managing fatigue in stroke rehabilitation and pedagogical research that designed, implemented and evaluated an interprofessional simulation for Occupational Therapy, Physiotherapy, Dietetics, and Nursing students. Sarah is experienced in conducting mixed methods research and randomised controlled intervention studies in the community.
Professional memberships
- Occupational Therapy Australia
- International Cognitive Approaches Network
- Australian Association of Gerontology
- Movement Disorders Society
- Parkinson’s Queensland Incorporated
- ANZAHPE
Awards/fellowships
- Shake It Up Australia Foundation Travel Grant 2023 - $3000
- Parkinson’s Queensland Incorporated PhD Grant 2021 - $9793.00
- Australian Government Postgraduate Research Training Program Tuition Fee Offset and Stipend 2020
Research areas
- Neurological disorders
- Functional cognition
- Interprofessional education
- Community mobility
- Quality of life
Sarah taught at the University of Queensland prior to coming to UniSC. She is an experienced clinical educator, tutor, lecturer, and course coordinator. Sarah’s special interests in teaching include occupational therapy for adults with physical and neurological impairments, ageing, cognition, community practice and interprofessional practice.
Teaching areas
Recent publications
- Davies SJ, Gullo HL, Doig E. Efficacy and Feasibility of the CO-OP Approach in Parkinson’s Disease: RCT Study Protocol. Canadian Journal of Occupational Therapy. 2023;0(0). doi:10.1177/00084174231156287
Sarah has been involved in research investigating the relationship between upper limb range of motion and quality of life following a stroke, on-road driving remediation to returning to driving after a brain injury, managing fatigue in stroke rehabilitation and pedagogical research that designed, implemented and evaluation an interprofessional simulation for Occupational Therapy, Physiotherapy, Dietetics, and Nursing students.