Dr. Fleming is Professor and Head of Occupational Therapy at The University of Queensland. Her research aims to improve the lives of people with brain impairment by understanding psychosocial and cognitive limitations arising from neurological injury and discovering effective occupation-based rehabilitation methods. She is a Fellow of the Occupational Therapy Australia Research Academy and Fellow of the Australasian Society for the Study of Brain Impairment (ASSBI), and co-Editor of the journal, Brain Impairment.

Identify three words that others have used to describe you: Open-minded, supportive, capable

How do you hope to make a difference in the world through research? I hope that my research helps occupational therapists and other members of the multidisciplinary team to develop better ways to work with people with brain injury.

What is one piece of advice you have for individuals considering a career in science and research?  Never miss the conference dinner!

Beside your own areas of inquiry, what is one research priority that you believe is important for the future of occupational science and occupational therapy?  The relationship between mental health and occupation.

Describe the most important role that mentors played in your professional journey: Encouraging me to apply for things that I would not have dreamt of going for.

Identify a favorite occupation that renews you outside of your work: Walking on the beach.

What has been the most surprising or rewarding aspects of a career in science and research? Most rewarding is seeing the excellence that is developing in the next generation of occupational therapy researchers.

Selected references:

Ownsworth, T., Fleming, J., Tate, R., Beadle, E., Griffin, J., Kendall, E., Schmidt, J., Lane-Brown, A., Chevingnard, M., & Shum, D. (2017). Do people with severe traumatic brain injury benefit from making errors? A randomized controlled trial of error-based and errorless learning. Journal of Neurorehabilitation and Neural Repair, 31 (12) 1072-1082.

Schmidt, J., Fleming, J., Ownsworth, T., & Lannin, N. (2013). Video-feedback on functional task performance improves self-awareness after traumatic brain injury: A randomised controlled trial. NeuroRehabilitation and Neural Repair, 27, 316-324. doi: 10.1177/1545968312469838

Fleming, J., Nalder, N., Alves-Stein, S., & Cornwell, P. (2014). The effect of environmental barriers on community integration for individuals with moderate to severe traumatic brain injury. Journal of Head Trauma Rehabilitation, 29(2), 125-135.

Fleming, J., Sampson, J., Cornwell, P., Turner, B., & Griffin, J. (2012). Brain injury rehabilitation: The lived experience of inpatients and their family caregivers. Scandinavian Journal of Occupational Therapy, 19, 184-193.

Fleming, J.M., Strong, J. & Ashton, R. (1996). Self-awareness of deficits in adults with traumatic brain injury.  How best to measure? Brain Injury, 10, 1-15.

Congratulations to our 2020 Intervention Research Grant Recipients:

Namrata Grampurohit, PhD, OTR/L
Thomas Jefferson University
Post-Discharge Support for Caregivers of Adults with Stroke Through Telehealth Coaching-in-Context
Mentor: Mary Jane Mulcahey

Danbi Lee, PhD, OTD, OTR/L
University of Washington
Return to Life After Stroke: Motivational Interviewing and Self-Management Support in Early Stroke Rehabilitation
Mentor: Chuck Bombardier 

Janet Njelesani, PhD, OTR/L
New York University
An Occupation-Based Intervention to Address Bullying Against Students with Disabilities
Mentor: Kristie Koenig 

Emily Somerville, OTD, OTR/L
Washington University- St. Louis
A Tailored Medication Management Intervention for Older Adults
Mentor: Susan Stark

Alex Wong, PhD, DPhil, BSOT
Washington University- St. Louis
Feasibility of Mobile Self-Management Intervention for Mild Stroke
Mentor: Carolyn Baum 

The purpose of this grant program is to lay the necessary groundwork for larger intervention studies and for larger implementation studies and support the profession’s Vision 2025 of occupational therapy as an evidence-based profession. The intent of the IRG program is to provide seed funding for the development of new and/or novel ideas in order to generate preliminary data as proof of concept. Most larger funders, including federal sources and most of the major nonprofit foundations, require this data in order to apply to them, yet sources to fund this preliminary work are limited at best. The AOTF IRG occupies a very important niche and fills a critical gap by investing in the development of ideas and data in the early state of the occupational therapy research enterprise. 

The Intervention Research Grant program receives major funding from The National Board for Certification in Occupational Therapy (NBCOT®), the American Occupational Therapy Association (AOTA), and the St. Catherine Challenge.  

Congratulations to the 2020 Implementation Research Grant Recipients:

Mary Khetani, Sc.D., OTR/L
University of Illinois at Chicago
Implementation of Electronic Shared Decision-Making Support for Families to Design and Monitor Participation-Focused Early Intervention
Mentor: Natalie Leland 

Chiung-ju Liu, PhD, OTR/L, FGSA
University of Florida College of Public Health and Health Professions
Implementing 3-Step Workout for Life to Improve ADL Outcomes in Home Health
Mentor: Michael Marsiske

Kelly Tanner, PhD, OTR/L, BCP
Nationwide Children's Hospital
Implementing Parent Coaching in Occupational Therapy for Young Children with Cerebral Palsy: A Multi-Site Project
Mentor: Nathalie Maitre 

The IR grant specifically supports research that is focused on helping occupational therapists take evidence-informed practice from theory to reality in their practice setting. This research grant develops and evaluates the processes used to implement, sustain, and or scale-up evidence-based practice into routine care with an end goal to improve the quality and effectiveness of care.

Learn more about the IR Grant.

Congratulations to our 2020 Health Services Research Grant Recipients:
Amber Angell, PhD, OTR/L
University of Florida
Health Services Utilization of Autistic Youth: Are Therapeutic Services Associated with Reduced Acute Psychiatric Care?
Mentor: Timothy Reistetter

Alison Cogan, MA, PhD, OTR/L
Washington DC VA Medical Center
Using EHR Data to Monitor Functional Recovery in Adults with Brain Injury During Inpatient Rehabilitation
Mentor: Trudy Mallinson

Mi Jung Lee, PhD, BSOT
University of Florida
Predicting Individuals’ Functional Difficulties at Home Using Statistical Machine Learning
Mentor: Craig Velozo

Chih-Ying Li, PhD, OTR/L
University of Texas Medical Branch
OT Service Intensity in Home Health and Impact on Health Outcomes
Mentor: Kenneth Ottenbacher

Health Services Research (HSR) examines how people get access to health care, how and what care is delivered, the cost of that care, and what happens to patients as a result of receiving or not receiving care.  Specifically, HSR is a multidisciplinary field that studies how social factors, financing systems, organizational structures and processes, health technologies, and personal behaviors affect access to health care, the quality and costs of health care, and ultimately, the health and well-being of health care consumers. 

The Health Services Research Grant program is made possible through a generous grant from NBCOT.

Learn more about the HSR Grant