Dr Samantha Ashby is a senior lecturer in occupational therapy in the School of Health Sciences. Her areas of research include investigating the strategies for improving the professional resilience in the mental health workforce, occupation-based practice in mental health, and the translation of theoretical knowledge into occupational therapy curricula and practice settings. She also has an interest in the ways in which practice education and other aspects of the curriculum impact on professional identity. She currently a Principle Investigator on a national Department of Health grant which is an Randomised Control Trial to review the use of simulation in occupational therapy curricula.  Her research contributes to the health care industry through increasing understanding of the nexus between theory and practice and how this impacts on occupation-based practice, professional identity, professional resilience and retention in the workforce. This contributes to professionals’ clinical work by raising awareness of the strategies required to combat the impact of dominant discourses in practice for clinicians, managers and educators. Dr Ashby’s research on the inclusion of theoretical knowledge in curricula and its transfer into practice is central in the international debate on current OT practice and is cited by scholars working in this area and is included in 6 recent Research Higher Degree dissertations. Dr Ashby's primary research areas focus on ways to improve the translation of research into the health and social care industry

Curriculum and Pedagogy, Clinical Sciences, Rehabilitation and Therapy