¾ÅÉ«ÊÓƵ

Susan Bazyk, PhD, OTR/L, FAOTA
Adjunct Professor, ¾ÅÉ«ÊÓƵ
2025

Research interests: public health approach to children’s mental health, school-based
occupational therapy, occupation-based practice, mixed methods research, knowledge translation
and implementation, capacity building of frontline school personnel

Biography
I am a Professor Emerita of the Occupational Therapy Program at Cleveland State University
(USA) where I taught for 34 years (1984-2018). During this time, I taught the pediatric OT
courses and served as director of the Graduate Certificate in School-Based Practice (1999-2018).
Throughout my career, I have specialized in occupational therapy research and practice with
children and youth in home, school and community-based settings.

In addition to authoring the Mental health promotion, prevention, and intervention with
children and youth: A guiding framework (2011), I have authored over 40 journal articles and
book chapters in leading OT textbooks. My research and publications have contributed to several
areas of practice including school-based practice, parent-professional collaboration,
understanding food refusal, occupation-based programming, and addressing the mental health
needs of children. My research was guided by a commitment to exploring the needs
of underserved populations – specifically, low-income urban youth. In an effort to meet real
community needs and make occupational therapy accessible to underserved groups, I developed
a preventive occupational therapy program – the Occupational Therapy Groups for HOPE
(Healthy Occupations for Positive Emotions). Offered by graduate occupational therapy students
as a service learning initiative since 2003, the HOPE groups are embedded in an after-school
program to address the structured leisure and social-emotional needs of low-income urban youth.

I am the founding director of : Promoting Mental Health Throughout the
Day – a multi-pronged mental health promotion initiative originally funded by the Ohio
Department of Education (2012-2015). Based on our implementation, I have developed an
extensive website to help OTs and interdisciplinary school professionals learn about and
implement Every Moment Counts' model programs and embedded strategies
(). Having given over 100 national and international presentations
since 2010, I am recognized for my leadership in building capacity of occupational therapy
practitioners and interdisciplinary school professionals to address the mental health needs of
children and youth.

Internationally, I have served as a Fulbright Specialist presenting on Every Moment Counts in
New Zealand (2020) and Ireland (2023). In 2025, serving as a Visiting Expert for the Ministry of
Health in Singapore, I presented to OTs and interdisciplinary school professionals on Every
Moment Counts and occupational therapy’s distinct value in mainstream schools.
Awards include: Fellow of the American Occupational Therapy Association (FAOTA, 2008),
Innovation & Impact Award (National Board for Certification in Occupational Therapy, 2023),
Award for Innovative and Emerging Practice from the American Occupational Therapy
Association (2018), Crain’s Cleveland Business Health Care Hero Award (2016), and
Outstanding Research Award for the College of Sciences and Health Professions at CSU (2017).