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Contact Details

Phone
+64 4 385 5357
Email
meredith.perry@otago.ac.nz
Position
Associate Professor and Associate Dean of Postgraduate Studies
Qualifications
BPhty MManipTh(Distinction) PhD
Research summary
Disability and long term conditions, equity, self-management, physical activity, green spaces, IPE
Teaching
  • Undergraduate: Physical activity, Musculoskeletal physiotherapy, Equity, Clinical education, Research & research methods
  • Postgraduate: PHTY501 Biomedical Science in Physiotherapy
  • Thesis supervision: Honours, Master’s, and PhD research
Memberships

International:

  • ISPAH International Society For Physical Activity And Health
  • WCPT World Confederation of Physical Therapists Network for Health Promotion in Life & Work

National:

  • Collaboration of Ageing Research Excellence (CARE) Theme Executive Committee
  • Wellington Inter-Professional Teaching Initiative (WITI)
  • Professional Practice Committee Co-Chair - Physiotherapy New Zealand
  • New Zealand Pain Society
  • Physiotherapy New Zealand Special Interest Groups (Older Adult, Paediatric, Neurology, Manipulative Physiotherapist)
Clinical
Clinical education in primary and secondary care one day a week

Research

Meredith is a physiotherapist and experienced qualitative and quantitative researcher who has an interest in long term conditions and disability. She researches concepts such as person-centred care and the therapeutic relationship required for enabling self-management (of which physical activity is one component). Her work also considers and explores co-produced solutions for challenging societal and political discourse which enables health system inequities via systemic racism or biases and inaccessible services, resources and environments.

The major programmes of research she is currently working in are:

  1. Parks for Activity and Recreation in our Communities (PARCs) includes research projects exploring accessible urban parks, playgrounds and green space for people of all ages and abilities in New Zealand (PARCs). It also includes projects exploring health professionals’ acknowledgment and confidence with places and spaces as part of a co-designed rehabilitation and management strategy.
    Parks for Activity and Recreation in the Community Study
  2. Health Professionals’ knowledge and understanding of disability concepts includes projects exploring pre-registration and registered health professionals’ attitudes towards disability and disabled people, as well as their knowledge and understanding of disability models and frameworks. The intent of this work is to develop a pre-registration inter-professional curriculum promoting experiential learning of disability concepts, designed and taught by people with lived experience of disability.
  3. Respiratory service provision for people with Neuromuscular disease includes projects looking at the access to and timely delivery of respiratory services (e.g. non-invasive ventilation and exhalation support) for people with progressive neuromuscular disease (NMD).

Additional details

Peer recognition:

  • Named co-investigator on two current HRC Project Grants
    • Co-creation and piloting of a digital self-help intervention (iSelf-help) for persistent pain
    • Te Ao Mārama: Disability perspectives of tāngata whaikaha Māori
  • Outstanding contribution to COVID-19 response, Disability directorate, Ministry of Health, New Zealand
  • Member Emeritus of the Wellington Branch of Physiotherapy New Zealand

Editorial Boards:

  • Associate Editor of the New Zealand Journal of Physiotherapy

Appointments:

  • Physiotherapy New Zealand 2020 Conference Academic Chair
  • Physiotherapy Board of New Zealand Re-certification Working Group
  • Physiotherapy Board of New Zealand Clinical Competence Reviewer

Publications

Mesbah, N., Perry, M., Hill, K. D., Manlapaz, D., & Hale, L. (2024). The experiences of older adults with dementia "Balance Wise": An individual or group-delivered exercise programme: A qualitative study. Disabilities, 4, 11-26. doi: 10.3390/disabilities4010002 Journal - Research Article

Woodley, S., Moller, B., Clark, A., Bussey, M., Sangelaji, B., Perry, M., & Kruger, J. (2023). A scoping review of digital technologies for women's pelvic floor muscle training to manage urinary incontinence across the life course. Continence, 7(Suppl. 1), 100741. doi: 10.1016/j.cont.2023.100741 Conference Contribution - Published proceedings: Abstract

Mesbah, N., Perry, M., Hill, K. D., Manlapaz, D., & Hale, L. (2023). Concurrent validity of clinical balance tests for older adults with cognitive impairment. New Zealand Journal of Physiotherapy, 51(3), 188-198. doi: 10.15619/nzjp.v51i3.277 Journal - Research Article

Wilkinson, A., Calder, A., Elliott, B., Rodger, R., Mulligan, H., Hale, L., & Perry, M. (2023). Disabled people or their support persons' perceptions of a community based multi-sensory environment (MSE): A mixed-method study. International Journal of Environmental Research & Public Health, 20, 6805. doi: 10.3390/ijerph20196805 Journal - Research Article

Ingham, T. R., Jones, B., Perry, M., von Randow, M., Milne, B., King, P. T., … Te Ao Mārama Study Group. (2023). Measuring Māori health, wellbeing, and disability in Aotearoa using a web-based survey methodology. International Journal of Environmental Research & Public Health, 20, 6797. doi: 10.3390/ijerph20186797 Journal - Research Article

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