Addressing Delirium with Conservative Interventions: The Role of Occupational Therapy

Dr. Anna Baird-Galloway, OTD, MOT, OTR/L, MT-BC, is a Clinical Assistant Professor in the Department of Occupational Therapy at the University of Florida (UF). Her primary role focuses on teaching excellence, complemented by contributions to research and service that enhance occupational therapy education and practice. Dr. Galloway teaches five core courses annually in the Occupational Therapy Doctoral (OTD) program, serving an average of 56 students per cohort. Her commitment to innovative pedagogy, including the use of medical improv and cognitive apprenticeship frameworks, has resulted in recognition by the Dean for Excellence in Teaching. Through curriculum redesign, active learning strategies, and mentorship of OTD capstone students, Dr. Galloway fosters clinical reasoning, adaptability, and professional identity development in future practitioners.

Dr. Galloway is a licensed and registered Occupational Therapist and a board certified Music Therapist. She completed her bachelor’s of science in music therapy at The University of Alabama (2012) and worked for several years in the greater Chicagoland area as a member of multiple rehabilitation teams for stroke recovery, Alzheimer’s/dementia, TBI, SCI, mental/behavioral health, and hospice care. She received her master’s degree (2017) and her post-professional clinical doctorate in occupational therapy [OTD] (2018) at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC). As an occupational therapist, Anna has worked extensively in acute care (cardiac, pulmonary, neuro, vascular, oncology, transplant), inpatient and outpatient mental and behavioral health, and end of life/palliative care. Anna is also a certified leader for Stanford’s Chronic Disease Self-Management Program.

Her Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) research includes peer-reviewed publications evaluating innovative instructional strategies and a multi-university study on occupation-based education. Her Scholarship of Practice (SoP) explores the integration of music as a therapeutic modality, with two additional publications and a current scoping review on music use in occupational therapy.

Dr. Galloway’s service leadership is exemplified by her role as faculty coordinator of the Occupational Therapy Equal Access Clinic, where she restructured operations to increase client appointments and caseload, earning the 2023 Superior Accomplishment Award for Community Service. Dr. Galloway co-chairs the department’s Admissions Committee, contributes to curriculum and recruitment initiatives, and serves the profession through peer review for journals and publishers. She has served on several Master’s, PhD, and external OTD committees as a content expert. Dr. Galloway’s contributions demonstrate a sustained commitment to advancing student success, scholarship, and service at the university, state, and national levels.