Rosie, as Lecturer Occupational Therapy, School of Applied Health, Faculty of Education and Health Sciences, University of Limerick; Adjunct Senior Lecturer University of Sunshine Coast, Queensland Australia, believes sustainable health and social care infrastructure, which advocates for appropriate and sustainable person-centred service provision to meet primary needs as a responsibility of the whole community, is key. Taking a human rights perspective she utilises participatory and inclusive methodologies engaging key stakeholders and is skilled in facilitating patient and public involvement research projects nationally and internationally, conducting situational analysis and developing strategic plans collectively, towards transforming services, improving outcomes and sustainability indicators.  Rosie has developed a sustainable community of practice (SCOP) model, which acts as a systems thinking framework to facilitate stakeholder centred action research.  She is part of development team for SOLA Centre of Excellence for Sustainable Quality in the Community & Voluntary Sector in partnership with the Disability Federation of Ireland and Johnson & Johnson.  Internationally, Rosie is an invited member of the Global Cooperation on Assistive Technology (GATE), World Health Organisation and the International Society of Wheelchair Professionals (ISWP), University of Pittsburgh, addressing education and research innovation, influencing global policy development to improve access to assistive technology for all.  Rosie is a member of a number of scientific committees, associations and is on the Association of Irish Powerchair Football (AIPF) and the ISWP Professional Standards Board. Current projects included: Sustainable Wheelchair and Seating Service Provision; Developing a Sustainable Support Service Strategy for People Living with Spina Bifida and Hydrocephalus in Ireland.

Publications

Gowran R.J, Goldberg M, Comanescu G, Ungureanu C, Garcia FDS, Xavier CA, Pearlman J. Developing Country-Specific Wheelchair Service Provision Strategic Plans for Romania and the Philippines. (2018) Disability and Rehabilitation: Assistive Technology, In Press

Smith EM, Gowran RJ, Mannan H, Donnelly B, Alvarez L, Bell D, Contepomi S, Ennion L, Hoogerwerf E-J, Howe T, Jan Y-K, Kagwiza J, Layton N, Ledgerd R, MacLachlan M, Oggero G, Pettersson C, Pousada T, Scheffler E, Wu S. Enabling appropriate personnel skill-mix for progressive realization of equitable access to assistive technology. Disabil Rehabil Assistive Technol. 2018:1-9. DOI: 10.1080/17483107.2018.1470683. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/17483107.2018.1470683

McSweeney E and Gowran RJ. (2017) 'Wheelchair service provision education and training in low and lower middle income countries: a scoping review', Disabil Rehabil Assist Technol, 1-13. DOI: 10.1080/17483107.2017.1392621. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/17483107.2017.1392621

Gowran RJ, Kennan A, Marshall S, Mulcahy I, Mhaille S, Beasley S, et al. Adopting a Sustainable Community of Practice Model when Developing a Service to Support Patients with Epidermolysis Bullosa (EB): A Stakeholder-Centered Approach. Patient. 2014;8(1):51–63. DOI: 10.1007/s40271-014-0097-5. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs40271-014-0097-5

Gowran RJ, McKay EA, O’Regan B. Sustainable solutions for wheelchair and seating assistive technology provision: Presenting a cosmopolitan narrative with rich pictures. Technol Disabil. 2014;26(2–3):137–52.  DOI: 10.3233/TAD-140408. http://dx.doi.org/10.3233/TAD-140408