Audrey's research interests stems from her clinical experience, working in partnership with people with learning or intellectual disability and their caregivers. 

Audrey's current series of research projects integrates her clinical knowledge and experience with her personal interest in the concepts of humanising and empathic home environment designing (designing that puts the person in the centre and can evoke emotion, attention, and influence sensation and wellbeing). She is interested in the influence of 'home' on people, which considers the sensory experience and use of space within home designing and how it may affect one's emotions and participation in order to thrive and flourish in that space. 

Her collaborative research with experts-by-experience and colleagues in practice aims to increase the understanding of the occupational therapy contribution to this area. The overall goal is to better support people with intellectual disabilities to live a safe and sustainable quality of life in their homes and communities.

She is also interested in the use of photography/photos as as a creative and visual research method. 

A list of research/supervisory areas of interest can be found further below. 

Audrey's occupational therapy career began in the NHS where she worked in mental health services and subsequently, in learning/intellectual disability services. In this time, she worked with people with complex health and social care needs, alongside their families, carers and support services; with the aim of supporting their occupational participation in life. She moved into academia after 26 years of working in the NHS. 

She is currently working toward her PhD by Publication, which focuses on the concepts of humanising, empathic and safe home environment designing for people with intellectual disability. 

In 2023, Audrey was awarded the Royal College of Occupational therapists Research Career Development grant to support the following research study: The occupational therapy contribution to good home environment design to support the participation and wellbeing of  people with intellectual disability.

In 2025, she was awarded further funding from University of Brighton Research & Knowledge Exchange (R&KE) Development Fund to evaluate the contribution of Experts-by Experience (EbE’s) in the RCOT funded project above and to continue working collaboratively with EbEs to develp their research partnership.  

Audrey is a member of the University of Brighton  SOLID Research Group and Centre of Arts and Wellbeing (CAW) and and her other research projects can be found here. 

Audrey’s clinical expertise lies in the field of intellectual disability. She draws on this specialist background to enrich her teaching, integrating  policy, evidence-informed practice, and emerging developments to illuminate the  realities of occupational therapy in practice. Her teaching incorporates a blended learning approach, combining online resources, practical application, and authentic case studies to support meaningful engagement and applied learning.

Audrey leads on practice placements for the MSc Occupational Therapy (Pre-registration) programme, including the coordination of diverse placements across the curriculum. The diverse placement model offer learners a distinctive and expansive experience beyond traditional NHS or local authority settings, enabling them to apply an occupational perspective within a wide range of contexts. This approach reflects the profession’s core belief that occupation is fundamental to wellbeing in all aspects of daily life.

As a tutor, Audrey is committed to the problem-based learning (PBL) philosophy embedded throughout the occupational therapy curriculum at the University of Brighton. This interactice and inclusive pedagogy supports small groups of learners to develop the habits of lifelong learning. Audrey adopts a 'just-right; balance of challenge and support, encouraging both critical and refelctive thinking while valuing the personal and professional contribution brought by each learner to the shared learning environment.      

Within the curriculum, Audrey also facilitates photography and hand-built pottery as therapeutic occupations. Through direct engagement in these creative processes, learners develop an embodied understanding of how such occupations can act as agents for change for individuals to engage meaningfully within their environments.

Audrey is interested in supervising students on their research projects within the scope of her expertise. This could be in an area of her interests or methodological experience: 

Areas of interest:

• Humanistic home environment designing to support wellbeing and participation
• The importance and influence of 'home' (and in relation to the occupational science concepts of 'doing, being, becoming, belonging').
• The occupational participation of people with learning or intellectual disability. 
• The concept of belonging in one's community.
• Human rights and occupational justice for people who are marginalised.   
• The use of photographic methods in research (photovoice, photo elicitation, photo novella).
• Sensory integration or processing.
• Dementia and family caregiving.

Areas of methodological experience:

• Qualitative research.
• Systematic or scoping review.