Kersey, Jessica, PhD, OTR/L

Clinical Interests

Dr. Kersey's areas of interest are acquired brain injury, community health, community-based intervention, self-management, social determinants of health, and health disparities.

Research Interests

Dr. Kersey’s research mission is to transform how occupational therapists conceptualize, measure and treat community participation following brain injury. Her research program focuses on the measurement of social and community participation, the examination of social and environmental factors that influence participation outcomes, and the design of community-based interventions to promote full participation in the community. Using a community-engaged approach to research, Dr. Kersey works to ensure that occupational therapy research and practice reflect the values and priorities of clients, particularly those with few resources and from underserved groups.

Teaching Roles

Dr. Kersey mentors students in our Clinical Doctorate of Occupational Therapy degree program and our PhD in Rehabilitation and Participation Science degree program.

Education

2021: Doctor of Philosophy in Rehabilitation Science, University of Pittsburgh
2009: Master of Occupational Therapy, University of Florida
2008: Bachelor of Health Science, University of Florida

Background

Dr. Kersey earned her Bachelor of Health Science (2008) and Master of Occupational Therapy (2009) from the University of Florida and her PhD in Rehabilitation Science from the University of Pittsburgh (2021). She completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Illinois Chicago in 2022, focused on community-based participatory research methods. Dr. Kersey’s clinical experiences in inpatient and community-based brain injury rehabilitation have driven her goal to enhance occupational therapy assessment and intervention approaches targeting community participation and the social and environmental factors that influence outcomes.

Selected Publications

Kersey, J., Hammel, J., Baum, C., Heubert, K., Malagari, E., Terhorst, L., McCue, M., & Skidmore, E. T. (2022). Effect of interventions on activity outcomes for adults with brain injury: a scoping review. Brain Injury, 36(1), 21-31.

Kersey, J., McCue, M., & Skidmore, E. Domains and dimensions of community participation following traumatic brain injury. (2020). Brain Injury, 34(6), 708-712. doi:10.1080/02699052.2020.1757153

Kersey, J., Terhorst, L., Wu, C., & Skidmore, E. (2018). Predictors of community integration following traumatic brain injury: A scoping review. Journal of Head Trauma Rehabilitation, 34(4), E32-E41. doi:10.1097/HTR.0000000000000442

Kersey, J., Kringle, E., & Rodakowski, J. (2022). An expansive view of the relationship between meaningful activities and health: A call to action. Journal of the American Medical Directors Association, 23(7), 1266-1267.

Kersey, J., Terhorst, L., Heinemann, A. W., Hammel, J., Baum, C., McCue, M., & Skidmore, E. R. (2021). Construct validity of the Enfranchisement scale of the Community Participation Indicators. Clinical Rehabilitation, 36(2), 263-271.

Kersey, J., Terhorst, L., Hammel, J., Baum, C., Toglia, J., O’Dell, M. W., Heinemann, A. W., McCue, M., & Skidmore, E. R. (2021). Detecting change in community participation with the Enfranchisement scale of the Community Participation Indicators. Clinical Rehabilitation, 36(2), 251-262.

Kersey, J., Evans, W. E., Mullen, K., Askren, A., Cavanaugh, R., Wallace, S. E., Hula, W. D., Walsh Dickey, M., Terhorst, L., & Skidmore, E. (2021). Metacognitive strategy training is feasible for people with aphasia. OTJR: Occupation, Participation and Health, 41(4), 309-318.

Chang, F. H., Fields, B., Kersey, J., Wu, C. Y., Shih, M., & Skidmore, E. (2022). How does culture influence the implementation of strategy training in stroke rehabilitation? A rapid ethnographic study of therapist perspectives in Taiwan and the United States. Disability and Rehabilitation, 44(19), 5612-5622.

Kersey, J., Kringle, E., Setiawan, I. M. A., Parmanto, B., & Skidmore, E. R. (In Press). Pilot RCT of a mobile health delivery platform for a strategy training intervention in inpatient stroke rehabilitation (iADAPT). Topics in Stroke Rehabilitation.

Kersey, J., Terhorst, L., & Skidmore, E. R. (2019). Effect of strategy training on self-awareness of deficits after stroke. American Journal of Occupational Therapy, 73(3), 7303345020p1-7303345020p7.