Fiona Tipping

I have a B.Sc and B.OT [Hons – First class] with undergraduate research being completed through analysis of a bimanual activity of daily living task in comparison to an exercise program to determine effectiveness of occupational therapy intervention in stroke rehabilitation.  Over my clinical carer I have presented at rural and remote health conferences showcasing clinical service practice examples for occupational therapy paediatric best practices.

Through the Centre for Research Excellence, I was awarded a Capacity Building Clinical Research scholarship and completed a project under the supervision of Monash University, Rural and Remote Health School.  The two year project enabled me to undertake a qualitative investigation into the issues affecting access to allied health services for Pacific Island migrants in rural Victoria.  The results of my investigation were presented in a Poster display at the Australian Institute of Family Studies annual conference.

My research interests include a desire to work collaborative with academics from different practice areas, to investigate allied health clinical best practice with indigenous populations, in forensic populations such as youth justice, disability and mental health.  This is positioned from the occupational justice perspective and my interest in researching the impact of engagement in meaningful occupation can have in the rehabilitation of offenders and the reduction of recidivism.

Overall I have a passion to seek and understand first nations perspective on occupation and how this relates to health and well-being in indigenous communities in the Northern Territory.  A particular area of interest I have is to understand the occupation of weaving and what relationship this has to physical and mental health for Aboriginal women.