Sharon Heeney

Assistant Professor in Occupational Therapy

Sharon qualified as an Occupational Therapist in 1980 and worked within the West Midlands in mental health, dementia care and forensic psychiatry. She gained her teaching certificate in 1986 and her MSc Psychology in 1996.

Her journey with social and therapeutic horticulture (STH) commenced in 1992. She was one of the course planning team for the original professional development diploma in therapeutic horticulture, in partnership with Therapeutic Horticulture (now THRIVE) and Moulton College of Agriculture. Human occupation and the interactive nature between a person and his/her environment are key themes shared between OT and the STH programme. Sharon has been teaching at masters level since 1998 and supervised the very  first MSc OT student. Sharon has been proud to have been a supporting member of STH over the last 20 years, and is delighted to be part of the development of the newly validated MSc in STH.

Sharon has been the  recipient of three Teaching Excellence Awards (2001, 2004 and 2009 (Highly Commended). She is a member of the Coventry University Ethics Committee and a reviewer for the Scandinavian Journal of Occupational Therapy.