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Ms Jou Yin Teoh
PhD Student

Summary

I'm a mission-driven entrepreneur, educator, and occupational therapist, with expertise in knowledge mobilisation through community building. Coming from the Global South where I completed my undergraduate studies in resource-constrained settings, I have always maintained that knowledge needs to be useful, actionable and accessible beyond ivory towers. I'm also a firm believer in the power of community; which has been fundamental to my qualification into occupational therapy, and continues to uplift me through moments of career adversity.

My work in UK Higher Education [accumulated funding £113,024; selected examples: 1, 2, 3] has won awards and received national-level recognition, such as inclusion in the landmark Council of Deans of Health report on Anti-Racism in Allied Health Professions Education as well as the shortlist for the 2023 NHS England Chief Allied Health Professions Officer Awards. This collective of projects includes my PhD research on how to interrogate the unwritten and unspoken rules of professional environments. I have also completed similar work for national-level third sector organisations such as the Royal College of Occupational Therapists and the Malaysian Health Coalition.

I am currently working with Prof. Michael Iwama to bring together the global Kawa Model community. After more than 20 years of the model flowing freely, many brilliant streams of work are running isolated across the world. We’re building a space for those streams to meet, to grow in unison, and to be shared more widely. My own Kawa work includes a public scholarship report commissioned by NHS England on application to growth-based career planning across the Allied Health Professions. If you're using the Kawa Model in practice, teaching, or research, please reach out!

Selected work:

  • Royal College of Occupational Therapists: Strengthened infrastructure and support for a growing network of 1000+ members in independent practice (non-statutory services including private and third sectors) through projects facilitating organisational integration, culture change, as well as resource development and renewal.
  • London School of Occupational Therapy (Brunel University of London): Led projects embedding digital accessibility as well as racial and cultural equity into team culture and infrastructure; upskilled a team of 20 academics to enhance pastoral support for superdiverse cohorts of 200-300 students from cultural backgrounds across 30+ countries.
  • Malaysian Health Coalition (featured as a UNDP case study): Operational leadership of approximately 300 volunteers to develop and disseminate health crisis communications in 25 languages through accessible routes for underserved communities from rural, indigenous, and migrant backgrounds.

Academic background: I previously held permanent academic appointments in the UK and Malaysia, most recently as Senior Lecturer and Senior Tutor at the London School of Occupational Therapy. I’ve secured a career total of £153,014 in funding for research and educational enhancement projects, authored more than 10 publications, presented more than 20 papers at peer-reviewed conferences, and supervised more than 30 postgraduate projects to completion, one at doctoral level. I’ve also delivered more than 35 invited speaking engagements, including keynotes and plenaries, across 15 countries in 4 continents.