Rate My Professor Kimberly Charlton

Kimberly Charlton serves as a Lecturer in Occupational Therapy at the University of Adelaide's School of Allied Health and Human Performance within the College of Health. She earned her PhD from the University of Adelaide in 2022, Master of Health Science from the University of South Australia between 2011 and 2014, Master of Occupational Therapy (Graduate Entry) from the same institution between 2006 and 2008, Professional Certificate in Practice Education from the University of South Australia in 2017-2018, and Bachelor of Health Science from the University of Adelaide between 2003 and 2005. With 13 years of clinical experience as an Occupational Therapist in acute and community rehabilitation, her specializations encompass amputee rehabilitation, geriatrics, burns, orthopaedics, and falls. Since joining the university in 2021, she acts as the Placement Education Coordinator for the Occupational Therapy program and delivers courses including Enabling Change: Musculoskeletal and Neurological, Introduction to Behavioural Neurosciences, Biosciences for Human Health A and B, Communication in Health Care, and Behavioural Neurosciences.

Charlton's research focuses on wheelchair training for individuals with chronic and progressive conditions, falls among older persons, evidence-based occupational therapy practice, and the translation of best practices into clinical environments. Her doctoral research utilized a realist evaluation to investigate contexts and mechanisms supporting evidence-based manual wheelchair training for late-life wheelchair users. Notable publications include "Manual wheelchair training for individuals with chronic and progressive conditions: a critical realist approach to improving practice" (BMC Health Services Research, 2025), "Weighted Blankets as a Sleep Intervention: A Scoping Review" (American Journal of Occupational Therapy, 2024), "Facilitating manual wheelchair skills following lower limb amputation using a group process: A nested mixed methods pilot study" (Australian Occupational Therapy Journal, 2021), "Getting help quickly: older people and community worker perspectives of contingency planning for falls management" (Disability and Rehabilitation, 2018), and "Perspectives of older people about contingency planning for falls in the community: A qualitative meta-synthesis" (PLOS ONE, 2017). She holds an Advance HE Fellowship since 2025.