Rate My Professor Dara Sampson

Dr Dara Sampson brings over 30 years of experience in social work practice, leadership, and research. She holds a Doctor of Philosophy from the University of Newcastle, with a thesis on the use of fiction in undergraduate social work teaching completed in 2021, and a Bachelor of Social Work from the University of Sydney. Her professional career commenced with 12 years in direct practice as a Senior Social Worker at Centrelink, followed by eight years in senior leadership roles as Business Manager in the Corporate and Business Integrity areas of Centrelink, where she developed skills in managing organisational change, strategic planning, policy writing, and evaluation. Dr Sampson lectured in Social Work at the University of Newcastle and the University of Sydney for over 10 years. She currently serves as Academic Research Manager in the College of Health, Medicine and Well-Being at the University of Newcastle and as Deputy Director of the Healthy Minds Program at the Hunter Medical Research Institute.

Dr Sampson's academic interests encompass social work and fields related to mental health and public health interventions. Her research focuses on digital interventions for co-occurring mental health and alcohol/other drug use problems, experiences of families affected by crystal methamphetamine use, humor in caregiving for brain cancer patients, ambivalence in help-seeking among suicidal individuals with comorbid depression and alcohol misuse, and protective factors for mental wellbeing. Key publications include the co-authored book Using Language, Fiction, and Story in Social Work Education (Routledge, 2023) and contributions to Social Work and Human Services Responsibilities in a Time of Climate Change: Country, Community and Complexity (Routledge, 2022). Selected journal articles are "'I no longer know that person': Experiences of families living with someone using crystal methamphetamine" (PLOS ONE, 2023), "'It's Hard, but We Could Kind of Laugh About It': Exploring the Role of Humor in Brain Cancer Caregiving" (Qualitative Health Research, 2022), "Protective factors for mental and psychological wellbeing in Australian adults: A review" (Mental Health and Prevention, 2022), and "Understanding ambivalence in help-seeking for suicidal people with comorbid depression and alcohol misuse" (PLOS ONE, 2020). She has also contributed chapters on implementation science theory for health information systems research (2025) and potential pitfalls in digital health interventions (2022). Dr Sampson participates in collaborative projects such as the eCliPSE cluster randomised controlled trial and AI chatbot evaluations for mental health support, enhancing evidence-based practices in community and health settings.