Barbara Gibson, PhD, MSc, BMR(PT)
Associate Professor, Department of Physical Therapy
University of Toronto
160-500 University Avenue
Toronto, Ontario, M5G 1V7
Phone: 416-978-1819
Fax: 416-946-8562
Email:barbara.gibson@utoronto.ca
Cross appointments: Senior Scientist, Bloorview Research Institute, Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital, Toronto
Links
http://www.physicaltherapy.utoronto.ca/faculty/barbara-gibson
Department of Physical Therapy
Bloorview Research Institute
Biosketch
Barbara Gibson’s research uses theoretically informed mixed methods to examine the social and ethical dimensions of disability, rehabilitation and community care. Her work is particularly focused on the effects of technologies on the lives of disabled children and younger adults, and using critical social science approaches to examine the norms and assumptions embedded in health policies and practices. Her doctoral work examined the lives and identities of young men with Duchenne muscular dystrophy in relation to their socio-spatial environments and the discourses of disability, masculinity, and technology. Other areas of interest include examining how models of “consumer-directed care” are enacted in supportive housing environments; policy assumptions regarding what counts as an “adequate” home environment for younger disabled adults; and the social values that underpin children’s rehabilitation practices and mobility decisions. Her experience with qualitative methods includes use of participant generated video accounts (video ‘diaries”), qualitative interviews with clients, family members, clinicians, and decision makers. She is currently developing multiple visual and interview methods in research with disabled children. Her work is transdisciplinary combining methods and theories from bioethics, critical social theory and the health sciences.
Barbara received her Bachelor of Medical Rehabilitation in Physical Therapy from the University of Manitoba in 1986 and her PhD in the Collaborative Programs in Bioethics and Health Care Technology and Place at the Institute of Medical Science University of Toronto in 2006. She is a member of the Joint Centre for Bioethics at the University of Toronto. She is an Associate Editor of Physiotherapy Canada.
Research Interests
- Disability
- Intersectionality of gender, disability, life stage and identities
- Rehabilitation
- Bioethics
- Qualitative methods
- Critical social science
- Children and youth
Teaching Responsibilities
JRP 1000: Theory and Method for Qualitative Researchers: An Introduction, Graduate Department of Rehabilitation Sciences & Dalla Lana School Of Public Health, University of Toronto. Centre for Critical Qualitative Health Research Essentials of Qualitative Research (EQR) Course series.
Ethics and Professionalism Cross-curricular Theme. Masters of Science in Physical Therapy program, Department of Physical Therapy, Faculty of medicine, University of Toronto
Sample Publications