Contact Information

Biography

Michelle McCann has been an occupational therapy practitioner for over 30 years, serving in roles from clinician, program developer, support group coordinator, program director, and quality director.  In addition to her clinical responsibilities, she has served as adjunct faculty at a number of occupational therapy programs prior to joining the faculty at Duquesne University.  Primary practice areas include program development and advancement of interventions and quality access to care for those with chronic, lifelong conditions such as stroke, brain injury, multiple sclerosis (MS), and other neurodegenerative conditions. Michelle has a strong desire to strengthen and align program development and pedagogy in the areas of care partnerships, interprofessional mentorship, community engaged program development and service learning benefitting underserved populations to advance overall health and wellness of communities. Her scholarly interests include advocacy with caregiver education and support programs, access to long-term supports after chronic injury, strengthening interprofessional communities of practice, and health self-management.  She has presented at various professional conferences on healthcare quality outcomes in medical rehabilitation, stroke/brain injury/ MS rehabilitation, obesity disease health management, interprofessional mentorship, and interprofessional practice.  She is certified with the Neurodevelopmental Treatment Association® (C/NDT), Brain Injury Association of America’s Academy of Certified Brain Injury Specialists (CBIS), and Uniform Data Set for Medical Rehabilitation as a Prospective Payment Specialist (PPSC).  She dedicates her time serves on the board of several community and professional organizations.  

Education

  • OTD, Chatham University, 2017
  • B.S., Bachelor of Science in Occupational Therapy, University of Pittsburgh 1995

School

Current Teaching (2024):
OCCT 305 Foundations and Concepts in Occupational Therapy
OCCT 422 Professional Seminar I
OCCT 602 Doctoral Capstone Seminar
OCCT 640/642/644 Doctoral Capstone Experience I/II/III
OCCT 635/645/655 Practice Scholar Capstone I/II/III
OCCT 537 Human Motion and Movement - Lab Assistant
OCCT 548 Medical Conditions in Occupational Therapy

Informal and formal caregiver wellness and advocacy; chronic neurological injury (stroke, brain injury, multiple sclerosis, Parkinson's disease); using technology advancements (AI and telehealth interventions and mobile health initiatives improving participation and health in community settings); community engaged services across the lifespan for greater disease health management; quality improvement/quality care initiatives impacting public safety and interprofessional teamwork; providing culturally responsive care in healthcare settings to address health disparities.

American Occupational Therapy Association Inspire 2025 Philadelphia, PA - Healing Ourselves: The Impact of Vicarious Trauma as an Occupational Therapy Practitioner

American Occupational Therapy Association Inspire 2025 Philadelphia, PA – Under Pressure: Occupational Therapy’s Role in Pressure Injury Management (poster)

American Occupational Therapy Association Education Summit Charlotte, NC 2024 - Mentoring Matters Pilot Project: An Evidenced-Based Approach in Supporting Mentorship during the Doctoral Capstone Experience

American Occupational Therapy Association Education Summit Charlotte, NC  2024 - A Course of Action to Integrate an OTD Student’s Doctoral Capstone with an Education Focus into the OT Academic Program (poster)

Coalition of Urban and Metropolitan Universities (CUMU) Minneapolis, MN 2024 - Building Community-Engaged Learning Opportunities Through Interprofessional Mentorships

Lilly International Teaching and Learning Cooperative (Lilly ITLC) Traverse City, MI 2024 - Building Cultural Humility and Interprofessional Socialization Through Interprofessional Learning Collaboratives

Nexus Summit 2024 - Healthcare Students’ Perceived Growth in Cultural Humility and Interprofessional Socialization Following a Grand Rounds Interprofessional Workshop: A Cross-Sectional Study of Two Cohorts (poster)

Pennsylvania Occupational Therapy Association (POTA) Annual Conference Erie, PA 2024 - Partnerships Between Academic and Clinical Practitioners to Improve Cognitive Outcomes

POTA Annual Conference Erie, PA 2024 - Under Pressure: Occupational Therapy’s Role in Pressure Injury Management

POTA Annual Conference Erie, PA 2024 - Sowing Community Engagement: Propagating Program Evaluation

American Occupational Therapy Association (AOTA) Adult Rehabilitation Specialty Conference Cleveland, OH 2024 - The Link Between Chronic Metabolic Conditions and Cognitive Function in Occupational Therapy

AOTA Adult Rehabilitation Specialty Conference Cleveland, OH 2024 – Building Communities of Practice to Expand Partnerships Between Academic and Clinical Practitioners

AOTA National Webinar Series 2024 - Prioritizing Occupational Therapy's Role in Addressing Healthcare Disparities in Obesity

AOTA Adult Rehabilitation Specialty Conference 2024 - Under Pressure: OT’s Role in Pressure Injury Management (poster)

POTA Annual Conference Pittsburgh, PA - Effective Intraprofessional Collaboration: IPE/Intraprofessional learning opportunities

POTA Annual Conference 2023 Pittsburgh, PA - Leveraging Quality Improvement to Drive the Doctoral Capstone

POTA Annual Conference 2023 Pittsburgh, PA - Growing Resiliency with Caregivers: A Stress Management Program

POTA Annual Conference 2023 Pittsburgh, PA - Promoting Health Equity Education through the OTPF-4

POTA Annual Conference 2023 Pittsburgh, PA - Wellness Programming for Individuals Seeing Bariatric Surgery

Lilly International Teaching and Learning Cooperative (Lilly ITLC) Traverse City, MI - Practicing What we Preach: Building Classroom Inclusivity

Lilly International Teaching and Learning Cooperative (Lilly ITLC) Traverse City, MI - Building Inclusion Through Diverse Mentorship

ASHAP 2023 – Investigating Interprofessional Socialization and Cultural Humility Among Health Care Students

AOTA Adult Specialty Rehabilitation Conference 2023 Baltimore, MD  - Prioritizing Occupational Therapy's Role in Emerging Practice Areas with Adults Facing Chronic Obesity

AOTA Inspire 2024 Orlando, FL - Take a Rest: Respite, Engagement, and Stress Techniques as an Effective Way to Reduce Caregiver Depression and Anxiety (poster)

AOTA Inspire 2024 Orlando, FL - Comprehensive Health and Wellness Programming to Address Physical and Mental Health Needs of Bariatric Surgery Clients (poster)

AOTA Inspire 2024 Orlando, FL - Utilizing the OTPF-4 to Promote Health Equity (poster)

AOTA Inspire 2024 Orlando, FL - Project Paws: Animal Assisted Intervention in Occupational Therapy (poster)

AOTA Inspire 2024 Orlando, FL - Effectiveness of Intraprofessional Collaborations between Academic and Clinical Organizations in Evidence-Based Care (poster)

AOTA Inspire 2024 Orlando, FL - Developing Communities of Practice Beyond Fieldwork and the Doctoral Capstone: Everyday Partnerships Between Academic and Clinical Practitioners

AOTA Inspire 2024 Orlando, FL - Belonging: The Importance of Finding the Right Mentorship Opportunities Throughout the Continuum of Professional Development

AOTA Inspire 2024 Orlando, FL - Reducing the Stigma and Marginalization of Obesity: OT’s Role in Addressing Education and Intervention

Uniform Data Systems for Medical Rehabilitation (UDSmr®) National Conference Guest Speaker User Group Conferences - March 2013 and May 2013 - Using Outcome Measurement in Program Development

Uniform Data Systems for Medical Rehabilitation (UDSmr®) National Annual Conference Guest Speaker August 2013 - Building Upon and Sustaining Best Practices Using Disease Specific Programs

POTA Conference Speaker (Fall 2013/ presentation with Dr. DeIuliis Duquesne University)

Using the Collaborative Fieldwork Experience in Level II Fieldwork Experience

HealthSouth Corporation Annual Director of Therapy and Chief Nursing Meeting July 2014 for Program Outcomes

POTA Conference Speaker October 2017 for Caregiver Health and Wellness

AOTA Conference Speaker April 2018 for Caring for Individual's with Chronic Neurological Needs

HealthSouth Corporation Annual Director of Quality and Risk Management June 2018 Clinical Research Promoting Caregiver Needs

Academy of Rehabilitation Medicine (ACRM) Poster Presentation October 2018 Providing for Acute Inpatient Caregiver Needs

American Heart and Stroke Association November 2020 Caregiver Social Media Series

American Heart and Stroke Association May 2021 Caring for Those with Stroke Series

  • Homer C. Hetrick, MD Award for Excellence in Promoting Healthcare (1991)
  • Jostens Foundation Top Ten Students Entering Rehabilitation Award (1995)
  • Pennsylvania Acute Rehabilitation Leadership Award Recipient (2011)
  • HealthSouth Corporation Therapy Leadership Co-Director of the Year (2012)
  • Community Servant Leadership Award Duquesne University (2013)
  • The Hospital and Health System Association of Pennsylvania Achievement Award (2013)
  • American Occupational Therapy Association Leadership Institute/Service Commendations (2014, 2016, 2017)
  • Pennsylvania Occupational Therapy Association Master Clinician Award (2023)
  • Duquesne University Rangos Dean’s Award for Service (2023)
  • Duquesne University Rangos Dean’s Award for Excellence in Teaching (2024)
  • Duquesne University Rangos Dean’s Award for Innovation in Teaching (2024)
  • Duquesne University Gaultier Fellowship Award (2024-2025)