Rate My Professor Samantha Ashby

Dr Samantha Ashby is an Associate Professor in Occupational Therapy within the School of Health Sciences, College of Health, Medicine and Wellbeing, at the University of Newcastle, Australia. She holds a PhD in Occupational Therapy from the University of Newcastle, with a dissertation on the theoretical knowledge used and valued by occupational therapists in mental health practice. Her other qualifications include a Research Masters in Occupational Therapy from the University of Sydney, examining the impact of chronic low back pain on occupational engagement in long-term unemployed individuals; a Post-Graduate Certificate in Teaching and Learning from Coventry University; a BSc (Hons) in Remedial Health Sciences from Coventry University; and a Diploma in Occupational Therapy from the London School of Occupational Therapy. Ashby's research specializations encompass strategies to enhance professional resilience in the mental health workforce, occupation-based practice in mental health, translation of theoretical knowledge into occupational therapy curricula and clinical settings, the influence of practice education on professional identity, and the interplay between theory and practice impacting occupation-based practice, resilience, and retention. She investigates the efficacy of occupation-focused models including the Canadian Model of Occupational Performance and Engagement, Kawa Model, and Model of Human Occupation, alongside creative therapies in mental health, enriched environments for stroke rehabilitation, and educational innovations such as simulation and technology in occupational therapy training.