Rate My Professor Shelley Wright

Dr. Shelley Wright serves as an Adjunct Lecturer in the School of Allied Health and Human Performance within the College of Health at Adelaide University. Previously, she was a longstanding lecturer engaged in both teaching and research in the occupational therapy program at the University of South Australia (UniSA). As an experienced occupational therapy clinician, she has worked in various mental health and paediatric roles, including at an agency specializing in services for children experiencing trauma and their families. Wright is a member of UniSA’s Safe Relationships and Communities Research Group, which focuses on developing safe and healthy interpersonal relationships and fostering socially inclusive communities. She has coordinated the research honours preparation course for occupational therapy and speech pathology students and supervised over 15 honours research students. Eligible to supervise Masters and PhD students, she is also available for media comment.

Wright earned her Doctor of Philosophy in 2016 with a thesis titled "Playfulness in Preschool Children: The Impact of Parental Characteristics and Child Abuse and Neglect," along with a Master of Philosophy and a Bachelor of Occupational Therapy in occupational therapy. Her research interests encompass child and adult well-being, the lifelong impact of trauma, mental health, and play and playfulness. She is proficient in diverse research methodologies, including qualitative research, case study design, and survey design. Her notable publications include "Collaborative practice with parents in occupational therapy for children: a scoping review" (Lage et al., Australian Occupational Therapy Journal, 2024), "Does the self-reported playfulness of older adults influence their wellbeing? An exploratory study" (Parker et al., Scandinavian Journal of Occupational Therapy, 2023), "Australian parents’ experiences of owning an autism assistance dog" (Appleby et al., Health and Social Care in the Community, 2022), "Mental health consumer involvement in occupational therapy education in Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand" (Scanlan et al., Australian Occupational Therapy Journal, 2020), "Mental health education in occupational therapy professional preparation programs: alignment between clinician priorities and coverage in university curricula" (Scanlan et al., Australian Occupational Therapy Journal, 2017), and "Weighing up the commitment: a grounded theory of the transition from occupational therapy clinician to academic" (Murray et al., Australian Occupational Therapy Journal, 2014).