Nicola Hancock

Professor Nicola Hancock serves as Professor in the Faculty of Medicine and Health at the University of Sydney, within the Sydney School of Health Sciences. An accomplished occupational therapist, she possesses over 30 years of experience in mental health clinical practice, education, and research. Her academic background includes a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in Occupational Therapy from the University of Sydney, awarded in 2011, and a Bachelor of Applied Science in Occupational Therapy (BAppScOT). Hancock joined the University of Sydney in 2004 as Associate Professor in the Faculty of Health Sciences and has since advanced to her current professorial position.

In teaching, she delivers mental health units across graduate and undergraduate occupational therapy courses and acts as the Research Education Academic Director (READ) for higher degree research students and supervisors in the School of Health Sciences. She supervises honours, master's, and PhD students, nurturing future occupational therapy scholars. Professor Hancock's research centers on improving the daily lives and recovery journeys of people living with mental illness, with emphasis on recovery-oriented practices, peer support, consumer involvement, and assessment tools. She has obtained research grants surpassing $1.5 million and produced more than 40 peer-reviewed publications. Prominent works include 'Recovery Assessment Scale–Domains and Stages (RAS-DS): Its feasibility and outcome measurement capacity' (2015, Australian & New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry), 'Peer support within clubhouse: A grounded theory study' (2012, Community Mental Health Journal), 'The social experiences of high school students with visual impairments' (2017, Journal of Visual Impairment & Blindness), 'Participation of mental health consumers in research: training addressed and reliability assessed' (2012, Australian Occupational Therapy Journal), and 'The effect of first year mental health fieldwork on attitudes of occupational therapy students towards people with mental illness' (2007, Australian Occupational Therapy Journal). Her contributions influence mental health recovery assessment and occupational therapy interventions, including NDIS-related studies.

Professional Email: nicola.hancock@sydney.edu.au