Announcement of the OTA Research Foundation 2023 Grant Recipient

The Occupational Therapy Australia Research Foundation (OTARF) grants scheme aims to stimulate new research knowledge and support the career development and capacity of researchers, particularly emerging researchers. From a strong pool of applicants, OTA is delighted to announce that the 2023 recipient of the OTARF Grant is Catherine Hilly.

Cate is a PhD candidate at the Australian Catholic University, investigating the feasibility of the Cognitive Orientation to daily Occupational Performance Approach (CO-OP) to improve occupational performance and participation for children with fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD) and motor coordination difficulties, with Professor Elspeth Froude, Professor Peter Wilson, and Dr Barbara Lucas.

For over 20 years, Cate has collaborated with children, families and communities to support their participation in meaningful occupations. She completed a masters degree by research in 2011 that explored the experiences of collaborative goal setting with occupational therapists and parents of children with disabilities, working alongside Associate Professor Christine Chapparo and Dr Nicole Sharp. Cate lectures at the University of Canberra, is an Honorary Fellow with the School of Psychological Science, University of Western Australia, and teaches in the Graduate Certificate in the Diagnosis and Assessment of Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders course.

Cate recently attended our 30^th National Conference & Exhibition in Cairns, Queensland, where she presented her ePoster spotlight titled ‘Promoting wellbeing through supported community playgroups for child and family play’ and chaired our extended oral sessions on children and families. Cate plans to dedicate her OTARF grant funding towards her doctoral research. We thank Cate for her contributions to occupational science and wish her all the best with her future directions.

For those interested in applying for the 2024 OTARF grant, applications will open in late 2023. For more information, please visit our website.