I am an occupational therapist (OT) specialising in working with children and young people with disabilities and their families. I am currently educating future occupational therapists at Brunel University, London.

The purpose of my Churchill Fellowship was to learn about parent coaching in occupational therapy in New Zealand, the USA and Canada. Parent coaching uses goal-directed conversations to enable and empower parents and aligns well with the professional values and aims of occupational therapy. I am excited and grateful to have the opportunity to explore settings and cultures using parent coaching and believe this knowledge will help our OT community support families within the UK.

In 2019, whilst six months' pregnant with my second child, I travelled to New Zealand to learn more about occupational performance coaching. The pandemic stalled the second leg of my Fellowship to the USA and Canada and I hope to resume this when feasible and safe. In the meantime, I have been leading a research project Coach2Thrive, offering coaching via telehealth to parents affected by the pandemic, teaching students about parent coaching and promoting parent coaching wherever I can.