#AOTA MENTAL HEALTH TOOLKIT PROFESSIONAL#

In recent years, she has been involved Age-Friendly University movement (for more information, please see: ). I love that our OT profession is so wide and broad that there are SO many ways we can do this!Īndrea has been instrumental in several successful research and academic projects. I began my career wanting to help people and have refocused my why to making the world more accessible and inclusive to people with disabilities and older adults so they can have choice and control over engaging in meaningful occupations.

#AOTA MENTAL HEALTH TOOLKIT PROFESSIONAL#

Andrea also volunteers in the community and with professional organizations and is highly invested in them.Īndrea says, I knew in high school that I wanted to be an OT but my reasons for loving this field have changed over the years. She likes to read, especially historical fiction novels. Outside work, Andrea loves spending time with her family: 9-year-old twins, Hallie & Kellen, 11-year-old Isla and husband Pat and enjoys traveling with them. In her work at EMU, she has also served in various leadership positions, including Program Director of the Aging Studies Program and the OT Programs and is currently the Interim Associate Dean of the College of Health and Human Services. She also enjoys carrying out interprofessional research with colleagues and students that focus on using participatory action research to explore and support participation of older adults and people with disabilities. Zakrajsek’s teaching interests include evidence-based practice and OT assessment and intervention for adults and older adults.

Earning post-professional Master’s and OTD degrees from the University of Illinois at Chicago, she returned to Michigan in 2008 and has been a faculty member in EMU’s OT Program ever since. She is a proud alumna of Eastern Michigan University (EMU) the second oldest OT Program in the state, graduating with a Bachelor of Occupational Therapy degree in 2001. Andrea Gossett Zakrajsek is a Michigan native and has been an OT for over 20 years, working in inpatient rehabilitation settings, within community agencies serving people with disabilities, and, for the past 15 years, in academia. MiOTA Member Spotlight: ANDREA GOSSETT ZAKRAJSEK, OTD, MS, OTRL, FNAPĭr.

Aota mental health toolkit