Niki Kiepek
ASSISTANT PROFESSOR
Dalhousie University, Canada
mood enhancement, non-problematic substance use, non-sanctioned occupations
Niki Kiepek, PhD, MSc(OT) is an Assistant Professor at the Dalhousie University School of Occupational Therapy. Her program of research is focused on broadening social understandings of licit, illicit, and prescribed substances through exploration of potentially problematic and non-problematic effects. She problematises conceptual boundaries that distinguish (desired) effects of pharmaceutics and (undesired) effects of non-prescribed substance in a Western context of medicalisation. She also critically examines experiences of people who use substances and health professionals in hospitals, with a particular interest in the potential for integrating harm reduction policies and practices into medical and rehabilitation settings. Niki engages in patient-oriented research, which involves with people with lived experience as decision-making partners on the researcher team. Her research utilises a range of methods including critical discourse analysis, online survey, interview, chart review, simulation, and ecological momentary assessment. For more information, visit her research website.