Dr Nancy Salmon

Nancy's research, teaching and life experiences created a career path that intertwines health professional practice, critical disability theory and community engagement through participatory research approaches. She is particularly concerned with how ableism quietly shapes the interactions between health professionals, people with disabilities and the societies we all re/create. It is vital that these tensions be examined through novel education and research initiatives. This is timely as we move into an era that brings with it the challenges of limited resources, an aging population, a shift to new models of care, and greater interprofessional collaboration.

Nancy’s healthcare practice for over 2 decades and more recently her research career involves supporting people with disabilities to live well in homes and communities they choose. Working for many years as a community-based occupational therapist in Canada and the US enabled Nancy to identify similarities in the lives of people with disabilities across jurisdictions. A sense of urgency to address the institutional structures that shape the experiences of people with disabilities and their families prompted her to pursue a Interdisciplinary PhD in Disability Studies at Dalhousie University, Canada.

Upon completing her PhD Nancy took up a lecturing post at the University of Limerick in the Department of Clinical Therapies in 2011. She was awarded a Marie Curie Career Integration Grant (2012-2016) for a multi-stranded research study—Navigating Stigma—comprised of 3 interdependent projects guided by the overarching question, How do people with disabilities navigate stigma to create sustainable relationships at home, at work/school, and in their communities?

Commitments that guide Nancy's research and teaching include: equity and social justice, community engagement, person-centred professional practice and interprofessional healthcare education.