Alison Pighills

I am an Adjunct Professor with James Cook University and an Occupational Therapist. I am currently the Chief Investigator (A) on a research project funded by the Medical Research Future Fund. 

In 2005 I was awarded a National Institute of Health Research (NIHR) fellowship to undertake a PhD at the University of York, United Kingdom (UK), which I completed in 2008. For my PhD, I conducted a randomised controlled trial (RCT) evaluating the clinical effectiveness of environmental assessment and modification to prevent falls in older people. In 2008 I was awarded the University of York K M Stott prize for the best PhD thesis. 

I have been awarded grants of over $17,000,000 and been a Chief Investigator on successful grants from the Medical Research Future Fund and from the National Health and Medical Research Council in the UK. My research focuses on environmental assessment and modification to prevent falls in older people and I have conducted RCTs, qualitative studies, implementation research and a Cochrane Systematic Review in this area.

I have also led studies examining the clinical effectiveness and staff/patient perceptions of professional skill sharing. I have been using a professional skill sharing and delegation model of care (the Calderdale Framework) for over 15 years and became the first ever Calderdale Framework practitioner in 2012. As such, this allows me to train clinicians to facilitate professional skill sharing in their organisations. This involves competency-based training of clinicians to enable them to deliver care, involving tasks, which cross traditional professional boundaries.