Azette was born and raised in Bloemfontein, the capital of the Free State province in South Africa. She earned her bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral degrees in occupational therapy from the University of the Free State. In 2008, she joined the Occupational Therapy Department at the University of the Free State as a lecturer. Her main clinical fields of interest are vocational rehabilitation, biomechanical conditions and adult rehabilitation. Her research areas of interest include physical rehabilitation, health professions education, knowledge transfer in health science education and in higher education.
 
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With national and international experience, Marieta Visser is an accomplished occupational therapist who has worked across diverse settings, dedicated to improving people’s lives. Her professional background includes geriatric homes and paediatric school environments in the USA, as well as long-term psychiatric government institutions, specialised educational facilities for children with diverse needs, private paediatric practice, and non-governmental organisations in South Africa. Since 2000, she has gained academic experience at several South African universities and is currently a full-time lecturer in Occupational Therapy at the University of the Free State. In this role, she employs innovative teaching, learning, and assessment strategies for both undergraduate and postgraduate students. Her research focuses on methodologies, instrument development, support for children with disabilities, hand function assessment, assistive technology, and palliative care. She has supervised and mentored several master’s students and is currently pursuing her PhD. Her commitment to scholarship is reflected in her active involvement in research projects, scientific publications, interprofessional education, and community-based learning initiatives. She is a member of the Occupational Therapy Association Research Committee, a reviewer for the South African Journal of Occupational Therapy, and an accredited senior training partner for the Early Learning Outcome Measure (ELOM) and DataDrive2030. Marieta is driven by a commitment to helping students reach their full potential while developing into healthy, balanced professionals.
 
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Melissa Kilian is a lecturer in Occupational Therapy with a special research interest in mental health and gerontological occupational therapy. Her work centres on the intersection between environmental influences, occupational participation, and dementia care within the South African context. She is particularly interested in how physical, social, and institutional environments shape the lived experiences of adults and older adults, especially those residing in institutionalised care settings. Her research focuses on promoting occupational rights, developing inclusive and enabling environments, and advancing evidence-informed dementia and mental health care practices. She is committed to generating contextually relevant knowledge that responds to the unique systemic, socio-economic, and cultural dynamics of the South African care sector. Through research, teaching, and community engagement, she collaborates with caregivers, managers, multidisciplinary teams, and policy stakeholders to transform care practices and co-create environments that support dignity, autonomy, and meaningful occupational engagement. Her work aims to bridge the gap between theory and practice by translating occupational science concepts into practical strategies that enhance the quality of life for adults and older persons.
 
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Anthea Jansen is an Occupational Therapist, lecturer, with extensive experience in clinical practice, teaching, and medico-legal work. She has been practising as an occupational therapist since 2004 and has been part of the academic staff at the University of the Free State since 2017. In addition to her academic role, she works in medico-legal practice, where she conducts functional and work capacity assessments and provides expert opinions in matters relating to injury, disability, and vocational functioning. Within the undergraduate occupational therapy programme, Anthea teaches in the areas of play, cognitive rehabilitation, visual perception, traumatic brain injury, and Parkinson’s disease. Her teaching focuses on preparing students to translate theoretical knowledge into meaningful clinical reasoning and occupation-based intervention across the lifespan. Anthea’s research interests centre on mental health, substance use recovery, and the occupational dimensions of health and well-being. She is currently completing a PhD that explores substance use recovery among emerging adults. In addition to her academic and clinical roles, Anthea contributes to professional development through student supervision and service on the Health Sciences Research Ethics Committee. Her work reflects a commitment to advancing occupational therapy practice, education, and research within the South African context.

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Monique Strauss is a Lecturer in Occupational Therapy in the Department of Occupational Therapy at the University of the Free State. Her teaching centres on adult and child mental health within the field of occupational therapy, and she has a distinct interest in innovative teaching methods. Her research focuses on clinical fieldwork education in occupational therapy, specifically exploring theoretical approaches and strategies that better prepare students for clinical placements and professional practice. Her work aims to strengthen the development of clinical competence in occupational therapy students by designing contextually relevant educational frameworks that support the transition from classroom learning to real-world clinical environments. Her broader research interests include trauma and mental health, and the impact of these factors on occupational performance and participation across the lifespan. She employs both qualitative and quantitative research methods, as well as review studies, to investigate a range of topics within occupational therapy and health professions education. Through her teaching and scholarship, Monique is committed to advancing innovative educational strategies that enhance student preparedness for clinical practice and support the development of competent, reflective occupational therapy practitioners. She also has a strong interest in the mental health and well-being of adults, adolescents, and children, particularly in understanding how psychological experiences influence engagement in meaningful occupations and everyday life, and in designing evaluation and intervention approaches that support and promote mental health across these populations.

 
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Mashudu is an occupational therapist and academic committed to promoting meaningful participation in everyday life through socially responsive occupational therapy practice, education, and research. She holds a Bachelor of Occupational Therapy, a Postgraduate Diploma in Vocational Rehabilitation, and a Master of Occupational Therapy. Her research focuses on work engagement and vocational rehabilitation and biomechanical factors influencing functional performance and participation in work, with particular interest in how occupational therapy can support individuals to access, return to, and sustain meaningful employment. She is interested in understanding the personal, social, and environmental factors that influence participation in work, as well as how rehabilitation interventions can enhance occupational engagement and work participation. Mashudu is passionate about teaching and mentoring occupational therapy students to become reflective, ethical, and compassionate practitioners who are responsive to the needs of individuals, families, and communities. She is especially committed to strengthening occupational therapy practice, education, and scholarship within the South African context. Through her academic and professional work, she aims to contribute to the development of inclusive, equitable, and contextually relevant vocational rehabilitation and occupational therapy services.

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Rialda Hattingh is a Lecturer in the Department of Occupational Therapy at the University of the Free State (UFS). She holds a master’s degree in occupational therapy and has extensive clinical experience across biomechanical and neurorehabilitation, paediatrics, hand therapy, and spinal cord injury. This background informs her practice-grounded approach to health sciences education. Rialda’s teaching portfolio includes management, biomechanical and neurophysiological components, as well as various pathologies, with a strong focus on clinical simulation and fieldwork training. She supervises both undergraduate and postgraduate research and serves as an internal and external examiner for master’s theses. Her research interests focus on innovative educational strategies in higher education, including simulation, peer-assisted learning (PAL), and the integration of artificial intelligence (AI). She also has an interest in resilience in children, rehabilitation, and issues related to homelessness. Rialda contributes to curriculum development and fieldwork supervision within the programme. She currently serves as chairperson of the Teaching and Learning Committee for the School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences (SoHRS), where she supports initiatives aimed at strengthening teaching and learning.
 
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Dr Thembi Nkomo is a Public Health scholar and Occupational Therapist with a research focus on vocational rehabilitation, mental health, community-based interventions, health systems, and occupational and environmental health. Her work integrates public health and occupational therapy perspectives to develop contextually relevant, evidence-based strategies that promote resilience, occupational participation, and sustainable well-being. Her primary research interests include mental health relapse prevention, social and mental determinants of health, caregiver performance patterns, student mental health, and the development and validation of community-informed intervention strategies. She employs mixed-methods research designs. Her scholarship is grounded in ecological and systems-based frameworks, ensuring that individual, community, and structural factors are addressed in health promotion and disease prevention efforts. Dr Nkomo has published in accredited peer-reviewed journals and actively contributes to postgraduate supervision, research mentorship, and curriculum development within the occupational therapy programme. She is committed to advancing occupational therapy education and strengthening its role within public health. Her work reflects a commitment to socially responsive research, interdisciplinary collaboration, and the translation of evidence into policy and practice that improves health outcomes in South Africa.
 
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Annelize Kruger is a lecturer in the Department of Occupational Therapy at the University of the Free State. A dual Namibian and South African citizen, she was born and raised in Namibia and later established her academic and professional roots in South Africa after completing both her bachelor’s and master’s in occupational therapy. Her academic work focuses on strengthening occupational therapy education, scholarship, and practice within the southern African context. She is an Ayres Sensory Integration (ASI) certified therapist and serves on the editorial team of the South African Journal of Occupational Therapy. Within the occupational therapy programme, she contributes to curriculum development, undergraduate teaching, and the supervision of undergraduate and postgraduate research students. Her teaching focuses on paediatric occupational therapy, including child development, child psychiatric conditions, and models of occupational therapy practice. Drawing on clinical experience in community-based services and private paediatric and rehabilitation practice, she emphasises the integration of theory with occupation-centred clinical reasoning. Her research centres on instrument development and psychometric refinement for occupational therapy assessment, particularly the assessment of in-hand manipulation in young children. Her research experience includes psychometric instrument development and validation, as well as evidence synthesis through scoping review methodology. She has also contributed to scholarship on culture and cultural competence in occupational therapy. She collaborates on interdisciplinary research on early childhood development and screening approaches in low-resource contexts and maintains an interest in innovative teaching strategies that support student learning and engagement.
 
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Dr Liezel Naudé is an occupational therapist with a specialist interest in neurorehabilitation, particularly paediatric and stroke rehabilitation. Her professional experience includes clinical work in primary health care settings within the public sector, where she worked with a broad spectrum of patients across diverse service delivery contexts. This experience strongly informs both her teaching and research. Her teaching portfolio spans undergraduate and postgraduate levels. She teaches foundational components of occupational therapy practice, including biomechanical and neurological concepts, as well as stroke pathology and management. Her undergraduate teaching focuses on developing students’ foundational knowledge to support effective clinical reasoning and practice across diverse populations and service contexts. She is also actively involved in supervising and co-supervising master’s and PhD students, supporting research that contributes to the growing knowledge base of occupational therapy and rehabilitation in South Africa. As an emerging researcher, she is committed to developing evidence-based, contextually relevant approaches that enhance community participation among chronic stroke survivors, particularly in rural settings. Her work promotes collaborative, intersectoral, and community-centred models of care that strengthen rehabilitation services and support the health and well-being of stroke survivors. In addition, she is dedicated to fostering student learning and advancing occupational therapy and rehabilitation in South Africa.
 
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