Dr. Helene Polatajko is an internationally acclaimed researcher, educator, and practitioner. Her clinical experience is primarily in the area of pediatrics, most especially with children with learning based performance problems.
Her research is focused on intervention and outcome measurement. She has held over $10,000,000 in research funding, given over 400 presentations in over 20 countries, and has over 200 publications including the Canadian Occupational Performance Measure, Enabling Occupation: An Occupational Therapy Perspective, and Enabling Occupation II: Advancing an Occupational Therapy Vision for Health, Well-being, & Justice through Occupation on all of which she is a co-author. Her primary research interest is the role of cognition in motor-based performance. Her work with colleagues and graduate students in this area has led to the development of the Cognitive Orientation to daily Occupational Performance approach.
Dr. Polatajko has received numerous national and international honors and awards, including the Canadian Muriel Driver Lectureship, induction into the American Occupational Therapy Foundation Academy of Research, and being named a Fellow of the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences. Dr. Polatajko is Professor Emeritus in the Department of Occupational Science and Occupational Therapy, in Rehabilitation Sciences Institute and in the School of Graduate Studies all at the University of Toronto.