Helene Polatajko

Dr. Polatajko is an internationally acclaimed rehabilitation science scholar, educator, and valued mentor. She has well over 300 publications and has delivered over 550 presentations in more than 20 countries. Prominent among her contributions are her co-authorship of the Canadian Occupational Performance Measure, which has been translated into over 30 languages, and the two Enabling Occupation books that form the basis of occupational therapy practice in Canada. She is also the creator of the CO-OP Approach, an intervention used internationally that offers an evidence-based, cognitive perspective on occupational performance. Dr. Polatajko has been granted numerous national and international awards and distinctions, including the Canadian Muriel Driver Lectureship, being named a Fellow of the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences, induction into the American Occupational Therapy Academy of Research, an Honorary Doctorate from the University of Western Ontario, and appointment as an Officer of the Order of Canada.

Dr. Polatajko’s research has focused on measurement and intervention. Both the measures she has been instrumental in creating (e.g., the COPM, P-ACS, and PQRS) and the intervention approaches she has researched (e.g., Sensory Integration, Process-Oriented Approaches, and CO-OP) have had a major impact in the field. Her primary focus in terms of populations has been developmental coordination disorder (DCD), where she is recognized as an international expert.