Staff Directory

Dr Susan Darzins Name: Dr Susan Darzins
Senior Lecturer (Occupational Therapy)
Email
Susan.Darzins@acu.edu.au
Phone
+613 9953 3149
Organisational Area
Faculty of Health Sciences
Department
School of Allied Health (VIC)
Location
Melbourne
The Daniel Mannix Building(Bldg.403 - 8-14 Brunswick Street, Fitzroy VIC 3065)-Level 2-Room2.35
Biographical Information

Susan is currently senior lecturer and National course coordinator and fourth year advisor (Melbourne) for the Bachelor of Occupational Therapy program in the School of Allied Health. Susan is also the Interprofessional Education Lead in the School of ALlied Health. Susan graduated as an occupational therapist in South Australia during the 1980s. She worked in Newcastle, NSW, in a clinical occupational rehabilitation role where she came to love working with injured employees during their rehabilitation. She studied a Master of Medical Science (Clinical Epidemiology) at the University of Newcastle, investigating factors that influence heavy industry workers to use back protection behaviour. Susan then worked for several years at McMaster University Medical Centre in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, in the area of vocational assessment. During this time she also gained experience as a problem-based learning tutor in the McMaster University Occupational Therapy program. Returning to Australia, Susan again worked in an occupational rehabilitation role before joining the school of occupational therapy at  La Trobe University as an academic in 2000. During her years at La Trobe University, Susan gained experience in teaching both undergraduate and graduate-entry occupational therapy students, as well as post-graduate occupational health and safety students. Susan has been employed as an academic in the School of Allied Health at Australian Catholic University since November 2014. In 2016 she was awarded her doctoral degree. Susan was a co-investigator on a National RCT investigating occupational therapy student learning and practice outcomes from a week-long simulated clinical placement. This research was of National significance to the profession in creating evidence supporting use of carefully designed simulated placement in occupational therapy programs. Since 2021, Susan has led the School of Allied Health Interprofessional Education Working Group. Under her leadership this group developed the ACU Interprofessional Education Framework, which is now available for use across the Faculty. Susan's current research focuses on (1) measuring the impact of occupational therapy in in-patient health care settings using standardised and valid measures and (2) identifying older adults' support needs in a community based health service using standardised assessment, the Home Support Needs Assessment (HSNA) (Darzins, 2018).

 

Publications

Ellis, J., Garner, E., Webster, K., Darzins, S., Galea, M.P., Scheinberg, A. (in press). Establishing an Australian pediatric spinal cord disorder register using consumer, health professional and researcher perspectives. The Journal of Spinal Cord Medicine.

Roche, N., Stuckey, R., Darzins, S., Oakman, J (in press). Worker experiences of the work health and safety impacts of exposure to dying and death in clinical settings: A qualitative scoping review. OMEGA - Journal of Death and Dying'

Roche, N., Darzins, S., & Stuckey, R. (2022). Funeral industry workers&rsquo work health and safety in Australia and Ireland. OMEGA - Journal of Death and Dyinghttps://doi.org/10.1177/00302228221075289

Unsworth, C., Baker, A., Morton-Kehle, D., Darzins, S. (2022). Survey of occupational therapy driver assessors&rsquo rehabilitation interventions with older drivers. OTJR: Occupation, Participation and Health,  https://doi.org/10.1177/15394492211050634

Maritz, R., Baptiste, S., Darzins, S.W., Magasi, S., Weleschuk, C., Prodinger, B. (2018). Linking occuptional therapy models and assessments to the ICF to enable standardized documentation of functioning. Canadian Journal of Occupational Therapy, pp. 330-341. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0008417418797146

Imms, C., Froude, E., Chu, EMY., Sheppard, L., Darzins, S., Guinea, S., Gospodarevskaya, E., Carter, R., Symmons, MA., Penman, M., Nicola-Richmond, K., Gilbert-Hunt, S., Gribble, N., Ashby, S., Mathieu, E. (2018). Simulated versus traditional occupational therapy placements: A randomised controlled trial. Australian Occupational Therapy Journal. 65: 556-564. http://doi.org/10.1111/1440-1630.12513

Imms, C., Chu, E.M.Y., Guinea, S., Sheppard, L., Froude, E., Carter, R., Darzins, S., Ashby, S., Gilbert-Hunt, S., Gribble, N., Nicola-Richmond, K., Penman, M., Gospodarevskaya, E., Mathieu, E., Symmons, M (2017). Effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of embedded simulation in occupational therapy clinical practice education: study protocol for a randomised controlled trial. Trials, 18, 345. http://doi.org/10.1186/s13063-017-2087-0

Darzins, S., Imms, C., Di Stefano, M. (2016). Measurement of activity limitations and participation restrictions: examination of ICF-linked content and scale properties of the PC-PART and FIM instruments, Disability and Rehabilitation, http://dx.doi.org/10.3109/09638288.2016.1172670.

Darzins, S., Imms, C., Di Stefano, M., Radia-George, C. (2016). Personal Care Participation Assessment and Resource Tool: Clinical utility for inpatient rehabilitation, Canadian Journal of Occupational Therapy, http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0008417416648446

Fortune, T., Ennals, P., Bhopti, A., Neilson, C., Darzins, S., Bruce, C. (2016). Bridging identity 'chasms': occupational therapy academics' reflections on the journey toward scholarship, Teaching in Higher Education, 1470-1294 (online) http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/13562517.2016.1141289

Prodinger, B., Darzins, S., Magasi, S., Baptiste, S. (2015). The International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF): Revisiting its relevancy for Occupational Therapy, World Federation of Occupational Therapists Bulletin, 71:2, 108-114. http://dx.doi.org/10.1179/2056607715Y.0000000003

Darzins, S., Imms, C., Shields, N., Taylor, N.F. (2015). Responsiveness, construct and criterion validity of the Personal Care Participation Assessment and Resource Tool (PC-PART), Health and Quality of Life Outcomes, 13:125. http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s12955-015-0322-5

Darzins, S., Imms, C., Di Stefano, M., Taylor, N., Pallant, J. (2014). Evaluation of the internal construct validity of the Personal Care Participation Assessment and Resource Tool (PC-PART) using Rasch analysis. BMC Health Services Research,14:543
. http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s12913-014-0543-z

Darzins, S., Imms, C., Di Stefano, M. (2013). Measurement properties of the Personal Care Participation Assessment and Resource Tool (PC-PART): a systematic review. Disability & Rehabilitation, 35 (4) 265-281.
 http://dx.doi.org/10.3109/09638288.2012.690819

Kunelius, A., Darzins, S., Cromie, J. (2007). Development of normative data for hand strength and anthropometric dimensions in a population of automotive workers, Work: a Journal of Prevention, Assessment and Rehabilitation, 28(3), 267-278

Darzins, P., Fone, S.  Darzins, S. (2006). Viewpoint: The international classification of functioning, disability and health can help to structure and evaluate therapy. Australian Occupational Therapy Journal, 53, 127-131.
 http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1440-1630.2006.00580.x

Mason, R., Darzins, S., Cromie, J. (2005). Workers&rsquo compensation insurance agents&rsquo satisfaction with occupational therapy activities of daily living assessments, Australian Occupational Therapy Journal, 52, 225-231.

Quirk, M., Best, M., Darzins, S. (2004) An evaluation of the Victorian code of practice (manual handling) risk assessment worksheet, Occupational Health and Safety &ndash Australia and New Zealand, 20(4):359-369.

Stock, SR., Streiner, D., Reardon, R., Darzins, S., Dilworth, P., Tugwell, P., Lolsel, P. (1995)  The impact of neck and upper limb musculoskeletal disorders on the lives of affected workers:  development of a new functional status index. Quality of Life research, Vol 4 (491).

Research

Susan has been a co-investigator on an Australian Government Department of Health funded  randomised controlled trial investigating the effectiveness of embedding simulation based learning into occupational therapy education as replacement of professional education hours.

Susan's current research focuses on validation and use of participation-related outcome measures relevant to occupational therapy practice. Susan is interested in research focused on measurement of the impact of occupational therapy services, particularly in inpatient health care settings. Her doctoral research focused on measurement properties of the Personal Care-Participation Assessment and Resource Tool (PC-PART) when used in an inaptient rehabilitaiton setting. Since completing her doctorate, Susan has developed a revised version of the PC-PART called the Home Support Needs Assessment (HSNA). The HSNA identifies people's support needs in all areas of daily living required to sustain community life. The assessment can be used with adults of all ages in hospital or community settings. Susan's research focuses on embedding measures such as the HSNA into routine practice to aid clinical decison-making, prioritisation of interventions and to improve interprofessional collaboration focused on person-centred, coordinated services.

 

Interests

Susan has a particular interest in measurement of outcomes relevant to occupational therapy practice. Her current doctoral research focuses on validation of the Personal Care Participation Assessment and Resource Tool for use in rehabilitaiton settings. She is interested in the concept and measurement of participation-related constructs, as described by the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health, and their relevance to occupational therapy practice.

Experience

Susan is an experienced academic with responsibility for developing and leading both large and small group-based curricula, Problem Based Learning, as well as Blended learning (face-to-face and online) study units. She has experience in developing and delivering Bachelor level programs and Graduate Entry Master Occupational Therapy programs.She has supervised Honours and Masters level research students.

Susan's teaching has touched on adult and older adult physical health and rehabilitation; assessment and measurement in occupational therapy; occupational rehabilitation; occupational health and safety; models relevant to occupational therapy practice; humans as occupational beings; and ageing and participtaion.

Professional Memberships

Registered Occupational Therapist with the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency

Occupational Therapy Australia.

World Federation of Occupational Therapists

Indigenous Allied Health Australia (Associate member)

 

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