Rate My Professor Kylie Wales

Dr. Kylie Wales is an Honorary Senior Lecturer in the School of Medicine and Public Health, College of Health, Medicine and Wellbeing, at the University of Newcastle. She commenced her tenure at the University in 2017 as a Lecturer and Course Coordinator for practice education in occupational therapy, later advancing to Senior Lecturer in the School of Health Sciences before assuming her current honorary position. Dr. Wales holds a PhD from the University of Sydney, where she commenced her studies in 2011 supported by an Australian Postgraduate Scholarship, with research focused on understanding clients’ needs and outcomes in hospital settings and the cost-effectiveness of discharge planning practices. She earned her Bachelor of Applied Science in Occupational Therapy from the University of Western Sydney, graduating with first-class honours and Dean’s merit list credit. Her early career included roles as a community occupational therapist in Western Sydney, specializing in equipment prescription, home modifications, and life skills for young adults with lifelong conditions; project manager for a National Health and Medical Research Council-funded study on occupational therapists’ roles in discharge planning; and postgraduate teaching fellow at the University of Sydney, where she taught undergraduate and master’s students on equipment prescription, home modifications, falls prevention, ageing, and evidence-based practice. Additionally, she served as Regional Practice Lead for Vision Australia in the Central Coast and Hunter Regions, guiding the allied health team through service delivery transitions under My Aged Care and the National Disability Insurance Scheme.

Dr. Wales’s research explores health economics, ageing, and psychometrics, with a focus on enabling occupational therapists to assess clients’ situations and needs for the most effective and cost-effective treatments that enhance quality of life. Her scholarly contributions include book chapters such as ‘Towards a better understanding of the long-term care needs of older people in Ghana’ with Awuviry-Newton, Tavener, and Byles (2021), and ‘The development of occupations across the lifespan’ with Cordier, Joosten, and Clemson (2021 and 2017). She has delivered numerous conference presentations, including on the impact of home modifications for rural older adults (2022), the Canadian Occupational Performance Measure’s psychometric properties (2021), and self-regulation in school-aged children (2021). In 2020, Dr. Wales received the Work Integrated Learning Staff Member of the Year award for her innovative efforts in securing quality placements for occupational therapy students during COVID-19.