Simone qualified as an occupational therapist in South Africa in 1998. She worked in the field of adult neurology and general rehabilitation in Johannesburg until 2002, when she came to the UK. She has worked since then in Hackney, East London in the fields of adult neurology, rapid response (A&E), older people and intermediate care (general rehabilitation). Simone became interested in researching the role of occupational therapy in non-traditional/third sector settings while working in day services for older people and those with long term disabilities. In 2011, Simone took up a PhD studentship at Brunel and is currently writing up her PhD thesis exploring the occupational experience of people with disabilities in a horticultural social enterprise

Participatory action research and critical ethnography Organisational case study – sustainable health and social care Third sector health and social care involvement Social enterprises People with learning disabilities Occupational therapy Occupational science Food growing as a tool for community development and individual wellbeing

PhD research is a qualitative study investigating the occupational experience of people with and without disabilities participating in a horticultural social enterprise. The use of outcome measures on acute care wards for older people: Does rehabilitation on an acute ward return a person to their premorbid state of function and if not, what are the factors that influence this? (Ongoing project with Brunel and a London District General Hospital).