Contact details
Email william.levack@otago.ac.nz
Twitter handle: @DrLevack
Current roles
Professor William Levack is Dean of the University of Otago, Wellington, and a member of the Rehabilitation Teaching & Research Unit, in the Department of Medicine.
He is the current President of the New Zealand Rehabilitation Association, and an Executive member of Cochrane Rehabilitation – an organisation he helped establish in 2016. He is a New Zealand registered physiotherapist.
Research interests
William's work focuses on patient experiences of rehabilitation, goal setting processes, and interventions to increase patient engagement in rehabilitation activities – particularly in the areas of neurological and respiratory rehabilitation. He has ongoing research projects with colleagues in multiple countries, including Japan, Italy, Germany, Pakistan, Malaysia, and the UK.
Publications
Levack, W. M. M., Engkasan, J. P., Heinemann, A. W., & Negrini, S. (2019). A review of CONSORT guidelines about comparison groups with a focused discussion on implications for rehabilitation clinical trials. American Journal of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation, 99(3), 191-197. doi: 10.1097/phm.0000000000001368
Journal - Research Other
Levack, W. M., Martin, R. A., Graham, F. P., & Hay-Smith, E. J. (2019). Compared to what? An analysis of the management of control groups in Cochrane reviews in neurorehabilitation. European Journal of Physical & Rehabilitation Medicine, 55(3), 353-363. doi: 10.23736/s1973-9087.19.05795-2
Journal - Research Article
Levack, W. M. M., Rathore, F. A., Pollet, J., & Negrini, S. (2019). One in 11 Cochrane reviews are on rehabilitation interventions, according to pragmatic inclusion criteria developed by Cochrane Rehabilitation. Archives of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation, 100, 1492-1498. doi: 10.1016/j.apmr.2019.01.021
Journal - Research Article
Levack, W., Tomori, K., Takahashi, K., & Sherrington, A. J. (2018). Development of an English-language version of a Japanese iPad application to facilitate collaborative goal setting in rehabilitation: A Delphi study and field test. BMJ Open, 8(3), e018901. doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2017-018908
Journal - Research Article
Levack, W., & Thornton, K. (2017). Opportunities for a meaningful life for working-aged adults with neurological conditions living in residential aged care facilities: A review of qualitative research. British Journal of Occupational Therapy, 80(10), 608-619. doi: 10.1177/0308022617722736
Journal - Research Article
Thomas, E. J., Levack, W. M. M., & Taylor, W. J. (2015). Rehabilitation and recovery of self-identity. In K. McPherson, B. E. Gibson & A. Leplège (Eds.), Rethinking rehabilitation: Theory and practice. (pp. 163-190). Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press.
Chapter in Book - Research
Levack, W., & Dean, S. G. (2012). Processes in rehabilitation. In S. G. Dean, R. J. Siegert & W. J. Taylor (Eds.), Interprofessional rehabilitation: A person-centred approach. (pp. 79-107). Chichester, UK: Wiley-Blackwell.
Chapter in Book - Research
Levack, W. M., Rathore, F. A., & Negrini, S. (2020). Expert opinions leave space for uncertainty when defining rehabilitation interventions: Analysis of difficult decisions regarding categorization of rehabilitation reviews in the Cochrane library. European Journal of Physical & Rehabilitation Medicine, 56(5), 661-666. doi: 10.23736/s1973-9087.20.06615-0
Journal - Research Article
Levack, W. M. M., Rathore, F. A., Pollet, J., & Negrini, S. (2019). One in 11 Cochrane reviews are on rehabilitation interventions, according to pragmatic inclusion criteria developed by Cochrane Rehabilitation. Archives of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation, 100, 1492-1498. doi: 10.1016/j.apmr.2019.01.021
Journal - Research Article
Levack, W. M., Martin, R. A., Graham, F. P., & Hay-Smith, E. J. (2019). Compared to what? An analysis of the management of control groups in Cochrane reviews in neurorehabilitation. European Journal of Physical & Rehabilitation Medicine, 55(3), 353-363. doi: 10.23736/s1973-9087.19.05795-2
Journal - Research Article
Levack, W., Tomori, K., Takahashi, K., & Sherrington, A. J. (2018). Development of an English-language version of a Japanese iPad application to facilitate collaborative goal setting in rehabilitation: A Delphi study and field test. BMJ Open, 8(3), e018901. doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2017-018908
Journal - Research Article
Newton-Howes, G., Beverley, G., Ellis, P. M., Gordon, S., & Levack, W. (2018). What do final year medical students understand by the concept of recovery? A descriptive qualitative study. Academic Psychiatry, 42(3), 382-385. doi: 10.1007/s40596-017-0823-0
Journal - Research Article
Boland, P., Levack, W., Perry, M., & Graham, F. (2017). Equipment provision after stroke: A scoping review of the use of personal care and mobility aids in rehabilitation. British Journal of Occupational Therapy, 80(2), 73-88. doi: 10.1177/0308022616664910
Journal - Research Article
Levack, W., & Thornton, K. (2017). Opportunities for a meaningful life for working-aged adults with neurological conditions living in residential aged care facilities: A review of qualitative research. British Journal of Occupational Therapy, 80(10), 608-619. doi: 10.1177/0308022617722736
Journal - Research Article
McDonald, J., McKinlay, E., Keeling, S., & Levack, W. (2017). Complex home care: Challenges arising from the blurring of boundaries between family and professional care. Kōtuitui, 12(2), 246-255. doi: 10.1080/1177083X.2017.1373681
Journal - Research Article
McDonald, J., McKinlay, E., Keeling, S., & Levack, W. (2017). The 'wayfinding' experience of family carers who learn to manage technical health procedures at home: A grounded theory study. Scandinavian Journal of Caring Sciences, 31(4), 850-858. doi: 10.1111/scs.12406
Journal - Research Article
Ohno, K., Tomori, K., Takebayashi, T., Sawada, T., Nagayama, H., Levack, W. M. M., … Higashi, T. (2017). Development of a tool to facilitate real life activity retraining in hand and arm therapy. British Journal of Occupational Therapy, 80(5), 310-318. doi: 10.1177/0308022617692602
Journal - Research Article
Levack, W. M. M., Jones, B., Grainger, R., Boland, P., Brown, M., & Ingham, T. R. (2016). Whakawhanaungatanga: The importance of culturally meaningful connections to improve uptake of pulmonary rehabilitation by Māori with COPD: A qualitative study. International Journal of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease, 11(1), 489-501. doi: 10.2147/copd.s97665
Journal - Research Article
McDonald, J., McKinlay, E., Keeling, S., & Levack, W. (2016). Becoming an expert carer: The process of family carers learning to manage technical health procedures at home. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 72(9), 2173-2184. doi: 10.1111/jan.12984
Journal - Research Article
McNaughton, A., Aldington, S., Williams, G., & Levack, W. M. M. (2016). Sing Your Lungs Out: A qualitative study of a community singing group for people with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). BMJ Open, 6(9), e012521. doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2016-012521
Journal - Research Article
Newton-Howes, G., Levack, W. M. M., McBride, S., Gilmore, M., & Tester, R. (2016). Non-physiological mechanisms influencing disulfiram treatment of alcohol use disorder: A grounded theory study. Drug & Alcohol Dependence, 165, 126-131. doi: 10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2016.05.027
Journal - Research Article
Theadom, A., Rowland, V., Levack, W., Starkey, N., Wilkinson-Meyers, L., McPherson, K., on behalf of the TBI Experiences Group. (2016). Exploring the experience of sleep and fatigue in male and female adults over the 2 years following traumatic brain injury: A qualitative descriptive study. BMJ Open, 6(4), e010453. doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2015-010453
Journal - Research Article
Timothy, E. K., Graham, F. P., & Levack, W. M. M. (2016). Transitions in the embodied experience after stroke: Grounded theory study. Physical Therapy, 96(10), 1565-1575. doi: 10.2522/ptj.20150419
Journal - Research Article
Washbourn, R., Levack, W. M. M., Graham, F., & Currey, N. (2016). Te Vaerua Community Rehabilitation Service: A participation action research study of community based rehabilitation in the Cook Islands. New Zealand Journal of Physiotherapy, 44(2), 97-104. doi: 10.15619/NZJP/44.2.06
Journal - Research Article
Levack, W. M. M., Poot, B., Weatherall, M., & Travers, J. (2015). Interventions for sexual dysfunction in people with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) (Review). Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, 9, CD011442. doi: 10.1002/14651858.CD011442.pub2
Journal - Research Article
Levack, W. M. M., Weatherall, M., Hay-Smith, E. J. C., Dean, S. G., McPherson, K., & Siegert, R. J. (2015). Goal setting and strategies to enhance goal pursuit for adults with acquired disability participating in rehabilitation (Review). Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, 7, CD009727. doi: 10.1002/14651858.CD009727.pub2
Journal - Research Article
Martin, R., Levack, W. M. M., & Sinnott, K. A. (2015). Life goals and social identity in people with severe acquired brain injury: An interpretative phenomenological analysis. Disability & Rehabilitation, 37(14), 1234-1241. doi: 10.3109/09638288.2014.961653
Journal - Research Article
McDonald, J., McKinlay, E., Keeling, S., & Levack, W. (2015). How family carers engage with technical health procedures in the home: A grounded theory study. BMJ Open, 5(7), e007761. doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2015-007761
Journal - Research Article
Mistry, H., Levack, W. M., & Johnson, S. (2015). Enabling people, not completing tasks: Patient perspectives on relationships and staff morale in mental health wards in England. BMC Psychiatry, 15, 307. doi: 10.1186/s12888-015-0690-8
Journal - Research Article