Joan Healey

Dr Joan Healey is a Senior Lecturer in the College of Health, Wellbeing and Life Sciences at Sheffield Hallam University, specializing in occupational therapy. She teaches on BSc (Hons) and MSc pre-registration Occupational Therapy programs, focusing on creative activities, theoretical foundations of the profession, and qualitative research methodologies. Her research emphasizes the impact of the arts on wellbeing, aging care, and emotional dynamics in healthcare education.

Education: BA (Hons), DipCOT, PGCE, MA, EdD.

Research Interests
Joan explores creative interventions for older adults, particularly in residential care settings. Her work includes projects like the 'Creative Accounts of Care' service user involvement initiative and the 'IMAGINE project' (poetry interventions in nursing homes). She investigates emotional experiences of student placements using post-structuralist frameworks and has contributed to hospice care evaluations.

Recent Projects

• 2019: Evaluation of Rotherham Hospice in Care Home Project
• 2017: Collective biographies project with Education faculty
• 2015: Dementia awareness play 'Grandma remember me'

Awards

• University Inspirational Teaching Award (2019)

Supervision & Grants
Joan supervises doctoral students across multiple faculties and has held external examiner roles at Oxford Brookes and Cardiff Universities. She co-authored influential studies on academic workplace emotions and creative writing in care home research.

Labs & Collaborations
Active in interdisciplinary collaborations, including the 'Arts and Wellbeing Film Club' and partnerships with the Royal College of Occupational Therapists and Ignite Imaginations arts organization.