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Adele Breen-Franklin

Professor and Program Director
Biography

New to San Diego, California, Adele began her career as an occupational therapist in an acute care setting and then pursued a career primarily in various pediatric settings, including early intervention, out-patient, and school-based therapy in the Philadelphia metropolitan area.  From March 2008-December 2009, she coordinated the Philadelphia Inmate Services and Healthcare program, in partnership with the Department of Occupational Therapy at Philadelphia University and The Philadelphia Prison System, where she helped develop and implement an occupational therapy program for female inmates with psychiatric disorders at Riverside Correctional Facility. Adele has worked at Overbrook School for the Blind, the Pennington School through the Delaware County Intermediate Unit, the Southeast Delco School District, and the Marple Newtown School District, where she has had the opportunity to perform in-service education to teachers and support staff. Adele has taught in an occupational therapy assistant program, and most recently, was an associate professor and the program director of an entry level doctoral program in Philadelphia.

Professional Interests
  • Scholarship of Teaching and Learning
  • Psychosocial Interventions
  • Occupation-based practice
  • Development of nontraditional occupational therapy interventions
Education and Certifications
  • Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy from Barnard College
  • Juris Doctor (JD) from Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law
  • MS in occupational therapy from Philadelphia University
  • OTD from Chatham University.
Scholarship and Contributions to the Field

Peer Review Journals:

  • Mørk, G., DaLomba, E., Breen-Franklin, A., & Bonsaksen, T. (2024). Differences
    in approaches to learning between occupational therapy students in the USA and Norway. Occupational Therapy in Health Care, 1–13. 
    https://doi.org/10.1080/07380577.2024.2310209

Book Review:

  • Breen-Franklin, A. (2024). Book Review: Matthews model of clinical reasoning: A 
    systematic guide to occupation-based evaluation and intervention planning.
    Occupational Therapy in Mental Health,
    https://doi.org/10.1080/0164212X.2025.2452586

National Presentations:

  • Breen-Franklin, A. Breen-Franklin, A., Bubel, E., & Corcoran, S. (2024, April).The impact  of teaching assistants on the academic performance and learning experience of OT students, as perceived by the students, faculty, and TAs. Short course AOTA Inspire 2024, Orlando, FL.

International Presentations:

  • Breen-Franklin, A. & Bubel, E. (October 2024). Occupational therapy
    doctoral capstone focus areas and examples of innovative projects. Oral presentation for the 1st Occupational Therapy Europe Congress, Krakow, Poland.
  • Breen-Franklin, A. & Bubel, E. (October 2024). The role of teaching assistants 
    in an entry level DrOT program. Oral presentation for the 1st Occupational Therapy Europe
    Congress, Krakow, Poland.