Lisette Farias Vera

I am passionate about studying human occupations and their profound impact on people’s health and well-being.

Every day, people engage in meaningful activities known as occupations. These occupations are influenced by necessity, social pressure, or enforcement, and they can significantly impact individuals' and communities’ possibilities to become or stay healthy. I use critical social theory to examine how people’s participation in certain occupations is influenced by the larger socioeconomic and institutional systems that shape their daily lives. By raising awareness of the intersections of these elements, we can identify significant opportunities for both individual and social transformation.

Keywords: Critical qualitative health research, health equity and promotion, and transformative education/practice

In my research, I utilize critical reflexivity, dialogical methods, visual approaches, and community-based participatory research to embrace diverse perspectives and forms of knowledge. My doctoral thesis advocates for a critical dialogical approach that champions values such as transparency, partnership, and democratization in the research process.

I am currently involved in several research projects, including developing a comprehensive stroke prevention program to promote inclusion and health equity among adults at risk of stroke in Stockholm (Div. Occupational Therapy, KI). Additionally, I am collaborating on evaluating family-based activities in low socioeconomic status areas (collaboration GIH and Div. Nursing at KI) and developing dialogue support for social services' risk assessment of intimate partner violence against individuals with cognitive disabilities (collaboration with Örebro University). Furthermore, I am exploring the global conceptualization and use of critical reflexivity by occupational therapy educators (collaboration with Griffith University in Australia).

I serve as a faculty member for the European Master of Science in Occupational Therapy and the Dalhousie University Master of Science in Occupational Science and as an Associate Editor of the Journal of Occupational Science.

The core of my research in teaching is health professional education, particularly transformative learning, professional reasoning, and critical reflexivity. I supervise undergraduate, master's, and doctoral students. I teach within (critical) occupational science, epistemological foundations of qualitative research, and critical social theory. My focus on the internationalisation of the curriculum follows equity, decolonisation, and anti-racism perspectives.

Course Leader
Undergraduate level: Work, activity, and participation (15 credits) (In Swedish)
Master Level: Occupational Science 1 (15 credits) (In Swedish)
Doctoral Level: Occupational Science conceptual development and application on research (3.0 credits) (In English)

Qualifications
26 weeks (29 hp credits) of formal education in higher education pedagogy

Member of KIs Pedagogical Academy

Representative of the teachers' team involved in the terms 4-6 of the Occupational Therapy program