Research Profile

Biography

Dr. Eithne Hunt is a State registered occupational therapist who has clinical, research and teaching expertise in the area of adolescent health. Dr. Hunt has a first-class honours degree in Occupational Therapy and has 22 years' experience of working directly with young people in health and education sectors. She has worked with adolescents in in-patient acute psychiatric services as they learned to survive and thrive and reengage in the ordinary often taken for granted daily activities that give shape and meaning to our lives.

She is an award-winning university lecturer who has developed innovative curricula on everyday activities and health. Over the last 16 years in UCC, she has witnessed how Occupational Therapy students (adolescents in the majority) welcomed the opportunity to discover themselves as occupational beings and examine the personal blend of work, play, rest and sleep that fills their days, for good or ill. In 2007, she captured, for the first time in Ireland, daily life for over 700 school-going young people, recruited across 28 schools, inviting them to document how they spent their time and how that impacted on their wellbeing. Since completing her PhD (2014), she has expanded her repertoire of skills to better equip her to help young people. She is trained to deliver the Mindfuless in Schools Project (https://mindfulnessinschools.org/) interventions to children and teenagers; and has completed Relax Kids (https://www.relaxkids.com/) and SafeTALK (https://www.hse.ie/eng/services/list/4/mental-health-services/nosp/training/safetalk.pdf/) training.

Dr. Hunt’s research is underpinned by population health, positive youth development, ecological and occupational perspectives of health; and developmental neuroscience. Her current teaching and research interests are in applying a public health model of occupational therapy in adolescent mental health, with particular interest in universal health promotion and prevention occupation-based lifestyle interventions. Currently, she is developing an evidence-based time use intervention that will support university students to create and enact everyday routines and habits that help them to be well and flourish. She designs and delivers 'Everyday Matters' sessions to secondary school students and UCC students and has presented locally and nationally on this work. Along with a neuroscience colleague, Dr. Hunt delivers training to parents on supporting children and young people’s healthy brains and daily habits as they grow. 

Dr. Hunt supervises undergraduate and postgraduate research on occupations, transitions, wellbeing and adolescence.

Research Interests

  • public health model of occupational therapy in child and adolescent mental health
  • occupational therapy in mental health
  • adolescence (10 - 24 years)
  • occupational science
  • brain and body health
  • developmental science
  • mindfuless
  • transitions
  • time use
  • curricular approaches to wellbeing in higher education





Research Grants

 ProjectFunding
Body
Start DateEnd DateAward
Developing Disciplinary ExcellenceHigher Education authority01-FEB-2031-DEC-20€23,168.00
Grant Not Awarded Teaching and Learning Research FellowshipsNational Forum for the Enhancement of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education03-FEB-20
National Forum Seminar Series “Showcasing a tiered public health Occupational Therapy approach to supporting student success, health and wellbeing in higher education”National Forum for the Enhancement of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education02-SEP-19€1,000.00
National Forum Seminar Series "Connecting the DOTS – Developmental opportunities in transitions for students"National Forum for the Enhancement of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education02-SEP-19€1,000.00
Shortlisted: The CAS:PER Project (Child & Adolescent Sleep: People Environments Routines)Health Research Board22-MAR-19
Unsuccessful fellowship application: The development and piloting of a school-based, whole class intervention to support adolescents to create and maintain daily habits for enhanced subjective wellbeingHealth Research Board15-MAR-18€.00
MSCA Networking EventUCC Strategic Research Fund01-SEP-1401-SEP-15€3,000.00
Travel bursary to attend Count Me In! ConferenceOther: Not Listed19-MAY-1420-MAY-14
Children's Research Network for Ireland and Northern Ireland Summer School Travel bursaryOther: Not Listed28-SEP-1130-SEP-11
Health Research Board Summer Student Scholarship: Daily Occupations, time use & subjective well-being of Irish school-going adolescentsHealth Research Board16-JUN-0825-JUL-08€2,000.00
Travel bursary to present at Researching Children's Worlds ConferenceHealth Research Board01-FEB-0829-FEB-08
HRB SSS Daily Occupations, time use & sbjective well-being of Irish school-going adolescentsHealth Research Board16-JUN-0825-JUL-08€2,000.00
International Association of Time Use Research Andrew Harvey ScholarshipOther: Not Listed01-JAN-0731-DEC-07

Teaching Activities

Teaching Interests

Recent Postgraduates

 Graduation YearStudent NameInstitutionDegree TypeThesis Title
2016Kate Murphy UCCComparability of scores between the Movement Assessment Battery for Children second edition and the Bruininks Oseretsky Test of Motor Proficiency second edition for children aged seven to ten years.
2012Clare Hennigan UCCExploring the occupational lives of older persons recovering from depression through an examination of time use
2015Ranadip Barua UCCComparative study on effective pressure distribution of two wheelchair cushions
2015Ciara Merritt UCCThe extent and nature of occupational therapists’ use of Multisensory Environments (MSE) with the adult mental health service user population of the United Kingdom (UK) and Ireland

Current Postgraduate Students

 StudentDegree Type
Whelan Eadaoin Doctoral Degree

Modules Taught

 Term (ID))TitleLinkSubject
2021Person Environment Occupation IV OT2004Person Environment Occupation IV
2021Person Environment Occupation II OT1002Person Environment Occupation II
2021Person Environment Occupation I OT1001Person Environment Occupation I
2021Becoming a Healthcare Professional OT1004Becoming a Healthcare Professional
2021Occupational Science OT6011Occupational Science
2021Creative Occupations and Health OT1005Creative Occupations and Health

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School of Food and Nutritional Sciences

School of Food and Nutritional Sciences, Room 240 Food Science Building, University College, Cork

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