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Dikaios Sakellariou

Professor Dikaios Sakellariou

(he/him)

Academic and research staff

School of Healthcare Sciences

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Media commentator
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Available for postgraduate supervision

Overview

I am Professor of Disability Studies and Occupational Therapy. I am interested in the ways that people with chronic illness or disability mobilise in order to produce a good, or better, life with, rather than despite, impairment. I do this through exploring experiences of living with illness and bringing to the foreground what is at stake for different people in different situations. In my work, I use ideas and methods from public health, medical anthropology, occupational therapy, and disability studies.

I welcome inquiries from prospective PhD students in any of the following areas:

  • Disability studies
  • Disparities in access to healthcare
  • Disability and sexuality
  • Experiences of neurodegenerative conditions
  • Care practices

Publication

2024

2023

2022

2021

2020

2019

2018

2017

2016

2015

2014

2013

2012

2011

2010

2009

2008

2007

2006

Articles

Book sections

Books

Conferences

Thesis

Research

I use ideas and methods from the health and the social sciences to explore the sociopolitical conditions that create disability and how such conditions can lead to some people having limited opportunities for participation in daily life. I am specifically interested in exploring the effects these conditions produce in different aspects of people’s daily life (e.g. access to healthcare). My research has been funded by Tenovus Cancer Care, Knowledge Economy Skills Scholarships (EU), the Sasakawa Great Britain Foundation, and Daiwa Anglo-Japanese Foundation, among other funders. I regularly provide consultancy on disability inclusion to international organisations, including the World Health Organisation.

Teaching

I am an experienced educator in occupational therapy and more generally in the health sciences; I teach, supervise and examine at undergraduate, taught postgraduate, and doctoral levels. I have acted as external examiner for BSc in Occupational Therapy programmes both nationally and internationally, including at Trinity College Dublin, Republic of Ireland, and at the Metropolitan College in Athens, Greece. I also regularly edit occupational therapy textbooks, such as the world-leading book series Occupational Therapies without Borders, which has received a foreword by Nobel Laureate Desmond Tutu.

I regularly supervise PhD students in the area of disability studies and chronic illness and I am an experienced external examiner for doctoral theses that focus on disability research across a variety of disciplines (public health, global health, gender studies, occupational therapy; medical anthropology) at universities in the UK, Spain, Australia, and Malaysia.

Biography

Education and qualifications

2014: Ph.D. School of Healthcare Sciences, Cardiff University, UK. Title: “As you can see, we plod along”; Narratives of living with motor neurone disease in Wales.

2010: Postgraduate Certificate in University Teaching and Learning, Cardiff University, UK.

2005:  M.Sc., Graduate School of Health Sciences, Department of Occupational Therapy, Sapporo Medical University, Japan.

2002:  B.Sc., Department of Occupational Therapy, Technological Education Institution, Athens, Greece.

External engagements

2022-present: Scientific collaborator, European University Cyprus, Nicosia, Cyprus.

2018, October: Invited researcher, School of Social Sciences, Department of Anthropology, Monash University, Australia.

2018, July: Invited Researcher, School of Economics, Universidad de Chile, Chile.

2018-2022: External examiner, Department of Occupational Therapy, Queen Margaret University/ Metropolitan College, Greece.

2016-2020: External examiner, BSc in Occupational Therapy, Department of Occupational Therapy, Trinity College Dublin, Republic of Ireland.

2016, August: Research visit, Discipline of Occupational Therapy, University of Sydney, Australia.

2016, August: Invited researcher, Department of Anthropology, Monash University, Australia.

2015- 2016: Member: Scientific committee of the 7th conference of the Greek Association of Occupational Therapists.

2014- present: Editorial board member: Cadernos de Terapia Ocupacional, published by Federal University of Sao Carlos, Brazil.

2013, April: Research Fellow, Department of Liberal Arts and Sciences, Sapporo Medical University, Japan.

2010:     Member, European Union funded project on the development of educational Competencies for Poverty Reduction (COPORE).

2008- 2011: Research committee member: Society for the Study of Occupation- USA.

2007- 2010: Member, NAPA-OT (National Association for the Practice of Anthropology- Occupational Therapy) Field School in Antigua, Guatemala.

2005-2006: Coordinator, ”Data collection about occupational therapists involved in Community Based Rehabilitation” executive project of the World Federation of Occupational Therapists (WFOT).

Honours and awards

2018- present: External affliate in Anthropology, School of Social Sciences, Monash University, Australia

2018- present: Fellow of the Society for Applied Anthropology

Committees and reviewing

Grant reviewer: Medical Research Council, Wellcome Trust, Marie Curie, Royal Society, National Commission for Scientific and Technological Research, Chile.

Journal reviewer: Critical Public Health; Journal of the National Comprehensive Cancer Care Network; International Journal for Equity in Health; Social Science & Medicine; Medical Anthropology; BMC Public Health; BMC Health Services Research; Qualitative Health Research; Sociology of Health and Illness; Disability and Rehabilitation; International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health; Occupational Therapy Journal of Research; British Journal of Occupational Therapy; Canadian Journal of Occupational Therapy; Journal of Occupational Science; International Online Encyclopaedia of Rehabilitation; Sexualities; Sex Education.

Member: Research Ethics Committee, School of Healthcare Sciences, Cardiff University

Supervisions

I welcome inquiries from prospective PhD students in any of the following areas:

  • Disability studies
  • Disparities/ barriers in access to healthcare, especially for people with disabilities
  • Disability and sexuality
  • Experiences of neurodegenerative conditions
  • Care practices

Current supervision

Ahmad Aldayes

Ahmad Aldayes

Research student

Hannah Trotman

Hannah Trotman

Research student

Contact Details

Specialisms

  • Medical anthropology
  • Disability studies
  • Occupational therapy
  • Critical public health
  • Health systems