Elaine qualified as an Occupational Therapist in 1983 (Glasgow) and has worked as both a clinician and manager in a variety of contexts including mental health, social work and acute medicine. The majority of her clinical experience has been within mental health working in child and adolescent psychiatry, acute psychiatry, rehabilitation, community mental health, long stay rehabilitation, forensic psychiatry and the care of the elderly. She has worked in various settings within the UK and New Zealand. Elaine joined the team at QMU in 2001 whilst completing a full time Msc in education at Edinburgh University.

Elaine is the Programme Leader for the PgDip/Msc in Occupational Therapy (pre reg). She has an interest and background in educational philosophy, theory and teaching methods. The Pg Dip/ Msc program is a PBL programme. She has teaching experience at undergraduate, post graduate arts therapies and with interprofessional student groups. Her main areas of teaching include: mental health, social justice, occupational justice, occupational science, value based practice, disability studies, dementia studies, childhood studies, evidence based practice , cultural safety ,occupational theory and anti oppressive practice.

She has supervised undergraduate and post graduate Msc dissertations. She is a member of the social justice research group. Her research activities are with older people and ageism. She is currently undertaking a professional doctorate and is an External Examiner at Trinity College Dublin.