Dr Sandra Mortimer

Academic Lead for Occupational Therapy at Flinders University

Dr Sandra Mortimer is the Academic Lead for Occupational Therapy at Flinders University. She is a registered occupational therapist with over 25 years’ experience, primarily working with young children and families experiencing complex adversities in community settings. For 10 years, Sandra led an interprofessional team of occupational therapists, speech pathologists, and child psychologists to establish and embed a trauma informed, relational, and strengths based practice approach. She transitioned to academia in 2011 and has since led the development of curriculum grounded in culturally responsive, interprofessional, trauma informed, and relational practice, which underpins the Flinders Occupational Therapy programs. Sandra completed a Clinical Doctorate in Public Health exploring carer and clinician perspectives in supporting young children with complex feeding difficulties, generating valuable insights into client centred interprofessional practice. She is passionate about supporting clinicians to critically examine their practice and embed reflective, innovative, client centred, and interprofessional approaches into everyday work.