Shannon Strate
Assistant Professor
JWU Faculty Since 2020

Shannon Strate, OTD, OTR/L, began her career as a COTA/L, and earned more than twenty years of clinical skills working at skilled nursing facilities and in rehabilitation management roles prior to joining JWU’s Occupational Therapy Program. She has always had a love for the geriatric population and health disparities affecting this population.
In 2012, she received a master’s degree in Occupational Therapy; she also passed the National Board for Certification in Occupational Therapist (NBCOT) to become a registered and licensed Occupational Therapist. In 2019, she earned a Post-Professional Doctorate in Occupational Therapy (PPOTD), which enabled her to further her interest in researching health disparities, in addition to teaching Occupational Therapy. Her Doctoral Project focused on Increasing Quality of Life through Purposeful Activity in Long-Term Residents of a Nursing Home. One of Strate’s favorite activities is bringing her dog into the nursing home and now the classroom for reducing anxiety and stress, increasing joy in all environments. She also enjoys mentoring new and experienced clinicians and managers.
Education
- OTD, New England Institute of Technology
- M.S., Occupational Therapy, New England Institute of Technology
- B.S., Communicative Disorders, University of Rhode Island
- A.S., Occupational Therapy, New England Institute of Technology
Teaching Interests
Older adults, leadership, healthcare systems
Scholarly Interests
Cognition and disorders/disease processes pertaining to cognition, Multiple Sclerosis
Doctoral project research completed at Steere House Nursing and Rehab Center focusing on engagement in purposeful activity to increase quality of life in long-term residents.
Courses
- OTD7170: Occupational Performance and Participation in Groups
- OTD7210: Neuroscience
- OTD8240: Occupational Therapy Practice I Lab
- OTD8310: Leadership & Advocacy
- OTD8140: Healthcare Systems and Policy
- OTD8360: Occupational Therapy Practice III
Extra Curricular Roles
AOTA Representative Assembly (RA) for Rhode Island
Professional Affiliations
AOTA, NBCOT, RIOTA
Publications
- Strate, S., Doehler, C. (2020) Does Engagement in Purposeful Activity Increase the Quality of Life of Long-Term Residents Living in Nursing Homes? The American Journal of Occupational Therapy (74.)