Rate My Professor Sarah Mcmullen-Roach

Sarah McMullen-Roach serves as a Lecturer in the School of Allied Health and Human Performance within the College of Health at Adelaide University, where she contributes to the occupational therapy program. Her professional experience spans a variety of clinical practice areas, including adult neurology, healthcare management, aged care, complex injury management, acute care, vocational rehabilitation, and seating and postural management. She spent a significant part of her career in New Zealand, developing competencies in culturally adaptive occupational therapy delivery. There, she pioneered models of practice that facilitated the integration of occupational therapists into emergency settings, promoting holistic health outcomes and reducing hospital lengths of stay. McMullen-Roach advocates strongly for the practical application of occupational therapy models to foster holistic, occupation-focused healthcare perspectives.

Her research focuses on rural and remote health, neurology, social role valorization, and the prevention and reversal of frailty in older populations, with a passion for enabling older adults to maintain valued roles through lifelong engagement in meaningful occupations. She has also explored LGBTI+ issues in aged care. Key publications include 'The Perspectives and Experiences of Older LGBTI+ Adults about Long-Term Care: A Qualitative Systematic Review and Meta-Synthesis' (The Gerontologist, 2025, with S. Kumar, M. Inacio, C. Murray); 'Aged and Health Care Service Use by Older Australians Who Identify as Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Intersex or Gender Diverse: A Retrospective Cohort Study' (Journal of Homosexuality, 2026, with S. Kumar, C. Murray, C. Lang, T. Air, M. Inacio); ''Why is it not bringing me meaning and purpose?' Former occupational therapists' narratives of leaving the profession' (Australian Occupational Therapy Journal, 2024, with I. Turner, A. Baker, C.M. Murray); 'A scoping review of mentorship in allied health: attributes, programs and outcomes' (Australian Occupational Therapy Journal, 2024, with D. Germeroth, C.M. Murray, K. Boshoff); 'A profile of practice: the occupational therapy process in community aged care in Australia' (Australian Occupational Therapy Journal, 2023, with S. Hughes, C.M. Murray, A. Berndt); and 'Five Years of Acute Stroke Unit Care: Comparing ASU and Non-ASU Admissions and Allied Health Involvement' (Stroke Research and Treatment, 2014, with I.J. Hubbard, M. Evans, J. Marquez, M.W. Parsons). In 2024, she won first place in the UniSA Three Minute Thesis Grand Final.