Jennifer Kennedy
Hamilton,Canada
Summary
Health care professional with almost 15 years of experience supporting children and families through use of clinical and researcher expertise. Specialized skills in research methods, and expert level knowledge of family-centred care and family engagement. Passionate about improving the patient and family experience through authentic engagement practices to meet our patient and families' unique needs.
Overview
14
14
years of professional experience
Work History
Clinical Specialist
Ron Joyce Children’s Health Centre, McMaster Children’s Hospital
04.2023 - Current
- Primary responsibility for clinical functions of the Learning Health System (LHS) in Developmental Pediatrics and Rehabilitation (DPR) at Ron Joyce Children’s Health Centre (RJCHC)
- Co-design the LHS with multiple stakeholders including DPR, mental health and autism clinical teams, research team, health informatics team, digital health team and parent partners
- Collaborate with the Project Coordinator to implement the LHS in DPR
- Support the integration of patient and family voices through pilot testing of LHS components and completion of focus groups, interviews and questionnaires
- Use an EDI lens when developing LHS components and ensure family engagement includes diverse perspectives from equity-deserving groups
- Support clinical training and change management for RJCHC staff implementing the LHS
- Encourage engagement of clinical and family stakeholders through demonstrations of the clinical utility of the LHS.
Research Associate
McMaster University
01.2015 - Current
- Research associate for the Partnering for Change (P4C), REACH, COFFEE & PLAY research teams at CanChild
- Developed the Facilitating Integration of Rehabilitation Services through Training (FIRST) course and provided clinical and research expertise to research projects exploring integrated, school-based tiered services to enhance equity and inclusion
- Assisted with grant applications and manuscript writing
- Presented on behalf of teams at national and international conferences.
Occupational Therapist
Ron Joyce Children’s Health Centre, McMaster Children’s Hospital
01.2020 - 01.2023
- Provide occupational therapy services in the Children’s Developmental Rehabilitation Program (CDRP; 0.6 FTE) and School Based Rehabilitation Services (SBRS; 0.4 FTE) in DPR at RJCHC
- Deliver family-centred assessment, treatment, and consultation services for children with neurodevelopmental issues
- Provide assessment, and consultation services for school-aged children with functional difficulties to facilitate their attendance, participation and engagement in publicly-funded educational settings
- Empower families and educators to support children in their natural contexts (home and school environments) by building their capacity through education, modeling, and feedback
- Establish client and family-centred goals and intervention plans targeting functional challenges
- Collaborate with families and educators, as well as interdisciplinary team members including physiotherapists, speech language pathologists, physicians, psychologists, and occupational therapist assistants.
Occupational Therapist
Reach Out Centre for Kids
01.2018 - 01.2020
- Provided occupational therapy services to pre-school aged children experiencing developmental delays in daycare and preschool settings in Halton Region
- Collaborated with families and educators to develop goals based on occupational performance issues
- Empowered families and educators to support children in their natural contexts by building their capacity through education, modeling and feedback
- Completed skill building workshops for community partners, educators and families
- Piloted a new service delivery model in school programs in Halton Region.
Occupational Therapist Consultant
Self-employed contractor
01.2010 - 01.2020
- Provided assessment and treatment programming for children and youth with neurodevelopmental disorders
- Established client and family-centred goals and intervention plans
- Collaborated with various team members including physiotherapists, physicians, psychologists, case managers, speech language pathologists, occupational therapist assistants, rehabilitation support workers and nurses
- Supervised OTAs performing cognitive remediation/compensation programs, community integration programs, and return to school programs.
Education
PhD - Rehabilitation Science
McMaster University
Hamilton, ON11.2020
Masters of Science - Occupational Science and Occupational Therapy
University of Toronto
Toronto, ON08.2010
Bachelor of Science (Honours) -
McMaster University
Hamilton, ON06.2008
Skills
- Implementing family-centred care
- Enacting family engagement
- Promoting equity and inclusivity
- Performing quality improvement
- Experience with research design and research methods
- Knowledge translation
Peer Reviewed Publications
- The Dance of Family Engagement in School-Based Occupational Therapy: An Interpretive Description, Jennifer Kennedy, S. Moll, C. Missiuna, J. Yost, S. Terreberry, W. Campbell, Journal of Occupational Therapy, Schools, & Early Intervention, 10.1080/19411243.2021.1941494
- The concept of family engagement in education: What are the implications for school-based rehabilitation service providers?, Jennifer Kennedy, S. Terreberry, S. Moll, C. Missiuna, J. Yost, V. Tomas, W. Campbell, Review of Education, 10.1002/rev3.3268
- Tiered approaches to rehabilitation services in education settings: Towards developing an explanatory program theory, S. VanderKaay, L. Dix, L. Rivard, C. Missiuna, S. Ng, N. Pollock, S. Sahagian Whalen, I. Eisen, C. Kyte, M. Phoenix, S. Bennett, J. Specht, Jennifer Kennedy, D. McCauley, W. Campbell, International Journal of Disability, Development and Education, https://doi.org/10.1080/1034912X.2021.1895975
- Making connections between school and home: Exploring therapists’ perceptions of their relationships with families in Partnering for Change, Jennifer Kennedy, C. Missiuna, N. Pollock, S. Sahagian Whalen, L. Dix, W. Campbell, British Journal of Occupational Therapy, 10.1177/0308022619876560
Affiliations
- Canadian Association of Occupational Therapists; Member
- College of Occupational Therapists of Ontario; Registered
Peer Reviewed Presentations
- The dance of family engagement in school-based occupational therapy: An interpretive description study, Jennifer Kennedy, S. Moll, C. Missiuna, J. Yost, S. Terreberry, W. Campbell, World Federation of Occupational Therapists Congress 2022, 2022-08-27, Paris, France
- How school-based tiered rehabilitation services work in the real world to promote inclusion, S. VanderKaay, C. Missiuna, L. Dix, S. Bennett, Jennifer Kennedy, C. Camden, S. Sahagian Whalen, W. Campbell, 14th Conference of the International Society for Research in Developmental Coordination Disorder, 2022-07-06, Vancouver, Canada
- FIRST: Online Resources to Support Rehabilitation Professionals to Deliver Tiered Services in Schools, W. Campbell, C. Missiuna, A. Levinson, S. Sahagian Whalen, L. Dix, S. Bennett, C. Kyte, R. Gaines, C. Camden, C. DeCola, Jennifer Kennedy, M. Phoenix, L. Rivard, A. Jiang, E. Kim, Child Health Symposium, 2021-05-20, London, Canada
- The dance of family engagement in school-based occupational therapy: An interpretive description study, Jennifer Kennedy, S. Moll, C. Missiuna, J. Yost, S. Terreberry, W. Campbell, Canadian Association of Occupational Therapy Conference 2021, 2021-05-04, Whistler, Canada
Professional Development
- 2024-01-01, Equity, Diversity, Inclusion, and Indigenous Reconciliation: Foundations (McMaster University)
- 2024-01-01, F-Words Training (CanChild)
- 2023-01-01, Trauma-informed Care – Level 3 (Child and Parent Resource Institute)
- 2020-01-01, Positive Space Network Training (Reach Out Centre for Kids)
- 2019-01-01, Strengthening Executive Skills in Children and Adolescents (Dr. Peg Dawson)
- 2019-01-01, FASD Two-Day Training for Professionals (Halton Region)
- 2018-01-01, Emerging Health Leadership Certificate (McMaster University Health Leadership Academy)
- 2017-01-01, Facilitating Integration of Rehabilitation Services through Training (McMaster University)
- 2017-01-01, Canadian Child Health Clinician Scientist Training Program Certificate (McMaster University)
- 2016-01-01, CanChild Family Engagement Day (McMaster University)
- 2014-01-01, Children and Youth with Acquired Brain Injury – Level 1 (Brock University)
Languages
Peer-reviewed Publications
Peer-Reviewed Publications (most recent)
Kennedy, J. N., Moll, S., Missiuna, C., Yost, J., Terreberry, S., & Campbell, W. (2021). The Dance of Family Engagement in School-Based Occupational Therapy: An Interpretive Description, Journal of Occupational Therapy, Schools, & Early Intervention, DOI: 10.1080/19411243.2021.1941494
Kennedy, J. N., Terreberry, S., Moll, S., Missiuna, C., Yost, J., Tomas, V., & Campbell, W. (2021). The concept of family engagement in education: What are the implications for school-based rehabilitation service providers? Review of Education. DOI: 10.1002/rev3.3268
VanderKaay, S., Dix, L., Rivard, L., Missiuna, C., Ng, S., Pollock, N., Sahagian Whalen, S., Eisen, I., Kyte, C., Phoenix, M., Bennett, S., Specht, J., Kennedy, J., McCauley, D., & Campbell, W. (2021). Tiered approaches to rehabilitation services in education settings: Towards developing an explanatory program theory. International Journal of Disability, Development and Education. doi: https://doi.org/10.1080/1034912X.2021.1895975
Kennedy, J., Missiuna, C., Pollock, N., Sahagian Whalen, S., Dix, L., & Campbell, W. (2019). Making connections between school and home: Exploring therapists’ perceptions of their relationships with families in Partnering for Change. British Journal of Occupational Therapy, 0(0), 1-9. doi: 10.1177/0308022619876560
Peer-reviewed Presentations
Peer-Reviewed Presentations (most recent)
Kennedy, J., Moll, S., Missiuna, C., Yost, J., Terreberry, S., & Campbell, W. (2022, August 27-31). The dance of family engagement in school-based occupational therapy: An interpretive description study [Oral presentation]. World Federation of Occupational Therapists Congress 2022, Paris, France.
VanderKaay, S., Missiuna, C., Dix, L., Bennett, S., Kennedy, J., Camden, C., Sahagian Whalen, S., & Campbell, W. (2022, July 6-9). How school-based tiered rehabilitation services work in the real world to promote inclusion [Oral presentation]. 14th Conference of the International Society for Research in Developmental Coordination Disorder. Vancouver, BC, Canada.
Campbell, W., Missiuna, C., Levinson, A., Sahagian Whalen, S., Dix, L., Bennett, S., Kyte, C., Gaines, R., Camden, C., DeCola, C., Kennedy, J., Phoenix, M., Rivard, L., Jiang, A., & Kim, E. (2021, May 20). FIRST: Online Resources to Support Rehabilitation Professionals to Deliver Tiered Services in Schools [Oral presentation]. Child Health Symposium, London, ON, Canada.
Kennedy, J., Moll, S., Missiuna, C., Yost, J., Terreberry, S., & Campbell, W. (2021, May 4-7). The dance of family engagement in school-based occupational therapy: An interpretive description study [Oral presentation]. Canadian Association of Occupational Therapy Conference 2021, Whistler, BC.
Timeline
Clinical Specialist
Ron Joyce Children’s Health Centre, McMaster Children’s Hospital
04.2023 - Current
Occupational Therapist
Ron Joyce Children’s Health Centre, McMaster Children’s Hospital
01.2020 - 01.2023
Occupational Therapist
Reach Out Centre for Kids
01.2018 - 01.2020
Research Associate
McMaster University
01.2015 - Current
Occupational Therapist Consultant
Self-employed contractor
01.2010 - 01.2020
PhD - Rehabilitation Science
McMaster University
Masters of Science - Occupational Science and Occupational Therapy
University of Toronto
Bachelor of Science (Honours) -
McMaster University
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