Rate My Professor Clare McHugh

Dr Clare McHugh is a Lecturer in Rural Mental Health at the School of Rural Health, Monash University, within the Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences. She brings extensive professional experience in occupational therapy, health promotion, the prevention of violence against women, and education to her role. McHugh completed her PhD, which specifically examined the barriers and facilitators influencing the delivery of allied health interventions designed to enhance community participation for stroke survivors. In her current position at Monash Rural Health, she is dedicated to facilitating mental health placements for allied health students situated in rural and regional areas of Australia. Her research specializations include key developments in mental health practices, allied health education strategies, work-integrated learning opportunities, and interventions supporting the community participation of stroke survivors. Through her efforts, McHugh actively contributes to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 3, focusing on good health and well-being, particularly in rural contexts.

Among her key scholarly outputs, McHugh co-authored the article 'Strengthening National Rural Disability Research Capacity Through a Community of Practice,' published in December 2025 in the Australian Journal of Rural Health (volume 33, issue 6). This work addresses critical issues in rural disability research. Earlier publications include 'Training mental health promotion workers in programme evaluation,' appearing in the Journal of Psychiatric and Mental Health Nursing in 2012 (volume 19, issue 1, pages 31-39), and 'Health promoting health services: A review of the evidence,' featured in Health Promotion International in 2010 (volume 25, issue 2, pages 230-237). She served as a Chief Investigator in the funded project 'Enhancing Chronic Disease Self Management Skills via Interprofessional Learning and Practice,' supported by the Department of Health, Disability and Ageing (Australia), spanning from 6 July 2009 to 20 May 2010, with J. Chesters as Primary Chief Investigator and M. Burley as another Chief Investigator. Presently, she holds a fellowship in the 'Mental Health and Wellbeing Student Training in Rural Communities' initiative, an external academic engagement from 3 June 2022 to 31 December 2024. McHugh engages in significant service roles as a board member of Gippsland Disability Advocacy Inc. Additionally, she contributed to the programme committees for the Monash Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences Early Career Researcher Symposium in 2023 and the Gippsland Allied Health Symposium in 2023, underscoring her commitment to advancing rural health education and research.