Rachel Teplicky
Mississauga
Summary
Strategic health services leader with over 20 years of experience in pediatric rehabilitation and interprofessional collaboration. Expertise in advancing scalable, evidence-informed clinical and educational initiatives across Canada and globally. Currently serves as Business and Engagement Officer at CanChild, leading programs that integrate research, policy, and family engagement for system-level transformation. Recognized international speaker and recipient of the 2023 Empowered Kids Ontario Tribute Award for Partnership, committed to building equitable, innovative, and family-centered learning health systems.
Overview
28
28
years of professional experience
Work History
Business & Engagement Officer
CanChild Centre for Childhood-Onset Disability Research – McMaster University
09.2016 - Current
- Co-lead CanChild’s training, implementation, and commercialization programs, including national rollouts of the F-words for Child Development framework and practice tools, such as About My Child, Participation and Environment Measure for Children and Youth and PREP – an intervention for enabling participation.
- Spearheaded CanChild’s strategic growth in implementation science, co-designing a dedicated CanChild Implementation Program, including the international F-words Foundations and Implementation Programs, generating over $750K in funding and contracts.
- Lead CanChild consultation teams that advised ministries in British Columbia and Ontario, and organizations in Australia on strengths-based, function-focused, family-centred, and equity-driven service delivery frameworks, leading to changes in policy and service delivery models aligned with progressive views of child and family health and development.
- Co-developed and oversaw CanChild’s Measurement and Analysis Service implementation province-wide across various provincial programs in Ontario; instrumental in strategy to evolve MPOC 2.0, a measure of parent’s perceptions of family-centred service delivery, via CIHR-funded research.
- Support CanChild copyright, licensing, and IP processes in collaboration with MILO and faculty researchers.
- Supervise and mentor CanChild staff and trainees.
Research Coordinator
CanChild Centre for Childhood-Onset Disability Research – McMaster University
09.2000 - 09.2016
- Managed multi-site research projects and developed service planning and outcome measurement tools including Pathways and Resources for Engagement and Participation (PREP) – an innovative interprofessional model of practice that focuses on changing environments to enable participation - and the Participation and Environment Measure for Children and Youth (PEM-CY).
- Coordinated the development of the Participation Knowledge Hub to disseminate family- and youth-friendly KT resources.
Occupational Therapist
Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital and ErinoakKids
01.1997 - 09.2000
- Delivered services for children and their families in a variety of programs including: Integrated Education and Therapy, Early Learning and Development programs across multiple settings, Neuromotor Services, and the Feeding Clinic.
- Co-designed a collaborative, interprofessional Community Outreach Service to support children with disabilities in their local childcare centres across the Greater Toronto Area.
- Contributed to interprofessional team practice and family-centred program delivery through improved goal setting and documentation practices.
Education
MSc - Rehabilitation Science
McMaster University
04-2005
BHSc - Occupational Therapy
McMaster University
09-1997
Certified Implementation Support Specialist - Bootcamp And Residency Program
The Centre For Implementation
other04-2025
Skills
- Interprofessional practice and collaboration
- Clinical education and mentorship
- Implementation science and practice
- Knowledge translation
- Child development and disability
- Strategic planning and policy consulting
- Partnership development and engagement
- Family-centered service and strengths-based
Honours And Leadership
- Scientific Committee, European Academy of Childhood-onset Disability, 2026
- Fred P. Sage Multimedia Award, American Academy of Cerebral Palsy and Developmental Medicine, 2024
- Empowered Kids Ontario Tribute Award for Partnership, 2023
- Keynote Speaker, ChangeMakers Conference (Australia), 2023
- Chair, Knowledge Translation Committee, CanChild, 2018-021
- Member, Anti-Racism, Anti-Bias, Anti-Oppression Committee, McMaster University, 2020 - Present
Grants And Funding (Select)
Co-investigator/collaborator for over $2M in externally funded projects.
- Transforming Child, Youth, and Family Services: Implementing the ‘F-words for Child Development’ framework, Co-PI, Kids Brain Health Network Implementation Program Grant (Strategic Science Fund), $1,026,742
- Measure of Processes of Care 2.0 – Towards the new gold standard in measuring family-centred service., Co-applicant, Canadian Institutes of Health Research, $485,774
- Advisory, Training and Implementation Support for Children’s Treatment Centres (CTCs) SmartStart Hubs Project., Lead, Ontario Ministry of Children, Community and Social Services, $335,000
- F-words Online Training Program Evaluation, Co-PI, Kids Brain Health Network, $200,000
Publications (Select)
Author/co-author on 35+ peer-reviewed publications and reports.
- Family-centered service through the eyes of insiders, Pozniak K, King G, Chambers E, Wellman-Earl S, Kraus de Camargo O, Teplicky R, Rosenbaum P., 01/01/24, Research in Developmental Disability, 10.1016/j.ridd.2024.104746
- Environment-based approaches to improve participation of young people with physical disabilities during COVID-19, Anaby D, Avery L, Palisano R, Levin M, Khayargoli P, Hsieh, YH, Gorter, JW, Teplicky R, Beyond Consultant Team., 01/01/23, Developmental Medicine and Child Neurology, 10.1111/dmcn.15822
- Knowledge Translation Advancement at a Childhood Disability Research Centre: Report on a Five-Year Strategic Plan, Micsinszki S, Teplicky R, McCauley D, Gorter JW, & Phoenix M., 01/01/21, Scholarly and Research Communication, 10.22230/src.2021v12n1a387
- Family-Centredness of a Provincial Autism Program: A Quality Assurance Evaluation Using the Measure of Processes of Care (MPOC), Williams U, Teplicky R, Rosenbaum P, Gorter JW., 01/01/21, Child: Care, Health and Development, 10.1111/cch.12852
Accomplishments
- About My Child, About My Baby/Toddler, About Me
- F-words Foundations and Implementation Training
- Pathways and Resources for Participation and Engagement (PREP)
Affiliations
- Enjoy spending time with my partner, our sons and our fluffy dog named Maggie
- Love to be active and do hot yoga in the winter to escape the cold
- Will not turn down an opportunity to see any live music!
References
References available upon request.
Timeline
Business & Engagement Officer
CanChild Centre for Childhood-Onset Disability Research – McMaster University
09.2016 - Current
Research Coordinator
CanChild Centre for Childhood-Onset Disability Research – McMaster University
09.2000 - 09.2016
Occupational Therapist
Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital and ErinoakKids
01.1997 - 09.2000
MSc - Rehabilitation Science
McMaster University
BHSc - Occupational Therapy
McMaster University
Certified Implementation Support Specialist - Bootcamp And Residency Program
The Centre For Implementation
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