University of Otago, Wellington
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Chair - Associate Professor Fi Graham

Fi Graham teaches interprofessional postgraduate rehabilitation, with a particular focus on rehabilitation with children and families, telehealth and implementation of evidence-based best practice. Her research experiences include a wide range of methods spanning qualitative, quantitative, mixed-methods and realist methods. She has a particular interest in autonomy supportive therapist-client interactions, often framed as coaching interventions. Fi is the Academic Lead of RTRU.

Speakers

Professor Jean Hay-Smith

Jean's interests include (specifically) the management of continence problems, and (more broadly) supporting behaviour change in rehabilitation settings. With regard to research methodology, Jean has experience of highly quantitative designs (such as systematic review and meta-analysis, and randomised trials), observational designs (such as before and after studies), and qualitative approaches (such as qualitative and interpretative description, reflexive thematic analysis, and interpretative phenomenological analysis).

She has a growing interest in co-design, and implementation research. She also greatly enjoys postgraduate thesis supervision and teaching.

Dr Rachelle Martin

Dr Rachelle Martin is a Senior Lecturer in the RTRU and a researcher in rehabilitation and disability. Rachelle is committed to enabling disabled people and those with long-term health conditions to live the lives they choose. Her research focuses on developing equitable, health-enhancing services, processes and policies through co-design and participatory approaches. Key areas include designing services and systems that align with people’s aspirations, evaluating interventions for equitable access and outcomes, and fostering a more enabling society. Passionate about collaboration, Rachelle listens with curiosity to understand how people wish to engage with health services and participate meaningfully in life.

Dr Hemakumar Devan

Dr Hemakumar Devan (he/him) is a clinical academic in pain management from New Zealand, working as a Senior Lecturer at the Rehabilitation Teaching and Research Unit (RTRU), University of Otago and as a Pain Management Physiotherapist at the Wellington Regional Pain Service, Te Whatu Ora Capital, Coast and Hutt Valley.

With equity and valuing lived experience expertise at the centre, Dr Devan’s research programme aims to foster self-management support to empower people with persistent pain and their whānau (family and significant others). He currently co-leads a HRC Health Delivery Project Grant to co-develop and implement a story-based, whānau-focused, opioid tapering intervention for people with chronic non-cancer pain. Strategically, his goal is to address health inequities and improve health outcomes for people with persistent pain and their whānau.