Rate My Professor Joanne Hilder

Dr. Joanne Hilder is a Lecturer in Social Work within the Faculty of Health at Southern Cross University. She holds a Diploma in Community Welfare (DipCommWelfare) and a PhD. As a social worker, educator, and researcher, she brings extensive experience in health clinical service delivery, mental health, and social work education. From 2010 to 2025, she served as both a clinician and researcher at Gold Coast Health. Dr. Hilder has taught knowledge translation in healthcare at Bond University and social work direct practice at Southern Cross University. She is deeply engaged in enhancing social work education, field education, and the integration of research into practice, while contributing to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. Her commitment extends to mentoring health professionals in research and evidence translation, and she accepts Higher Degree by Research (HDR) students focusing on health social work practice, sexual wellness in healthcare, and professional learning in clinical settings.

Dr. Hilder's research program centers on health social work practice, particularly sexual wellness after injury or illness, how health professionals learn through practice, sexual wellness in neurorehabilitation, the use of life story work, and feedback in clinical settings. She primarily utilizes qualitative methodologies to produce applied, practice-focused outcomes. Her teaching interests include knowledge translation, direct practice, and work-integrated learning. She emphasizes interdisciplinary collaboration and stakeholder engagement. Key publications include "Time to Make Sense: Doctors' and Students' Experiences of Difficult Feedback" (2025), "'Luck of the draw really': a qualitative exploration of Australian trainee doctors' experiences of mandatory research" (2024), "Feedback with feelings: the human complexity of expressing feedback" (2025), "Outcomes of a funding initiative to promote allied health research capacity building" (2020), "Developing a Prioritisation Framework for Social Work Referrals in Australian Hospitals: A Modified Delphi Study" (2025), and "A profile of homeless people seen in the Gold Coast Hospital Emergency Department" (2012). Her scholarly contributions advance healthcare education and social work practice.