Programme of Research at Undergrad and Postgrad Level

The Department of Occupational Science and Occupational Therapy has a strong commitment to research that is apparent throughout the undergraduate and post graduate programmes for students and practitioners: from the research undergraduate programme to the research MSc and the Phd programmes. 

Undergraduate research: Within the Department, research is actively integrated into teaching and practice education, including research modules for the undergraduate (Years, 2, 3 and 4). The undergraduate students engage in a research project in Year 4, based on an area of particular interest. In recent years these projects have included an emphasis on Community-Research Academic Links (CARL), connecting students to local groups for research collaboration:

• CARL Project: Deirdre O'Connor.  O’Connor, D., Butler, A., & Lynch, H. (2021). An exploration into factors which influence positive object play experience for children who are living with severe physical and intellectual disabilities [online], Community-Academic Research Links/University College Cork.  https://www.ucc.ie/en/media/research/carl/DeirdreOConnorandAlisonButlerCARLreport2021.pdf
• SHARE Project: Grainne Dolan and Rachel Foley (2017) https://www.ucc.ie/en/media/research/carl/GrainneDolanandRachelFoleyCARLReport2019.pdf
• COPE Foundation: Aine Blake and Julie Sexton (2017) https://www.ucc.ie/en/media/research/carl/AineBlakeJulieSextonCARLreport2017CopeFoundation.pdf
• Brid Hannon (2014): Exploring the accessibility of leisure facilities in Munster for people with physical disabilities: https://www.ucc.ie/en/media/research/carl/2014_BridHannon.pdf

For more information about the ethos of CARL, see: https://www.ucc.ie/en/scishop/ac/

To date a number of these undergraduate projects have presented at national and international conference level and have been published in the Irish Journal of Occupational Therapy and other international journals. Examples include: 

• Moore, A., & Lynch, H. (2015) Accessibility and usability of playground environments for children under 12: A scoping review. Scandinavian Journal of Occupational Therapy, :1-14.
• Kennedy, J., & Lynch, H. (2015) 'A shift from offline to online: Adolescence, the internet and social participation'. Journal of Occupational Science, .
• Moore, H. & Lynch, H. (2015). Environmental contexts and occupation: The effect of hospitalisation on children's playfulness. The Irish Journal of Occupational Therapy, 43 :26-33.
• O’Geran, E., Fanning, M., & Gorman, E. (2019). Exploring Irish Occupational Therapy Students’ Perspectives of Death and Dying Before and After Participating in “Death Week”, Society for the Study of Occupation Annual Conference, Arizona, USA .
• O’Sullivan, C., & O’ Leary, E. (2018). How are Occupational Therapists practising in the area of chronic oedema and lymphoedema in Ireland? International Lymphoedema Framework Conference: Rotterdam (Supervisor: Ms. Yvonne Pennisi)

In 2015, Jessica Kennedy was the first undergraduate to win a UA award for best research in social sciences in Ireland: https://www.irishexaminer.com/ireland/ucc-students-scoop-top-academic-awards-244136.html

All our staff research profiles can be found at: http://research.ucc.ie/profiles/

Recent Department Grants

Research Facilities

The Department of Occupational Science and Occupational Therapy is located on the ground floor of Brookfield Health Sciences Complex. On this floor we have a dedicated Occupational Therapy purpose-built Clinic, containing therapy and assessment equipment and standardised tests to support clinical research. Standardised tests include tests for sensory integration (Sensory Integration and Praxis Test), for cognitive and perceptual abilities (for example the Rivermead Test, Test of Visual Perceptual Skills), for motor co-ordination (for example the Bruininks-Oseretsky Test of Motor Proficiency), for occupation (for example the School Function Assessment) and for the environment (for example the HOME Inventory).  These can be used both clinically and for research purposes. Video facilities are available to support student and practitioner research also.

To date, the clinic has been used as a research facility in a number of projects, for example:

• PhD project to conduct research on sensory integration interventions for children with Autism Spectrum Disorders
• MSc in multimedia studies project- to develop a training programme for students: to learn how to administer the Visual Motor Integration Assessment to children,
• Undergraduate team research project: to administer the Clinical Observations in Sensory Integration with school-aged children. This project consisted of 4 projects, which included gathering of data for typical children, and subsequent qualitative research with the children, families and therapists on being involved in research from an ethical perspective.

In addition, the School of Clinical Therapies has a dedicated postgraduate student research room, and access to an IT Resource Room which contains 25 PCs with data analysis software that is continuously updated (e.g. Excel, Word, SPSS). Furthermore, the College of Medicine and Health Graduate Studies offers a Statistical Consultancy service for students (PhD, MSc by Research) in the Department.