Keara McNair

WORK HISTORY

EDUCATION

ABOUT KEARA MCNAIR

I am an occupational therapy clinician, researcher, and educator focused on advancing health services and implementation science to improve long-term outcomes for individuals with complex medical conditions. I recently completed my PhD in Health Sciences (Health Professions Leadership), and my research centers around data-informed strategies to address fragmented care during the transition to adulthood for young adults with spinal cord injury (SCI). With over fourteen years of inpatient rehabilitation experience—including founding Program Director of Kessler Institute’s AOTA-accredited Physical Rehabilitation Fellowship and clinical lead for Select Medical’s CARF-accredited inpatient cancer rehabilitation program—I bring expertise in program development, implementation, and evaluation. Since 2023, I have co-led the True Grit SCI program at Rutgers University, serving as program lead, clinical education lead, and research lead. True Grit SCI is an innovative, community-based rehabilitation model designed to support young adults (ages 16-21) with SCI during the critical transition to adulthood. In a collaborative effort between Rutgers School of Health Professions and RWJBarnabas Health Children’s Specialized Hospital, the program combines a week-long residential summer camp with monthly, virtual check-ins, offering peer mentorship, individualized therapy, goal-directed interventions, strengths-based SCI education, vocational and higher-education counseling, and adapted recreation. The overarching goal is to enhance resilience, self-efficacy, and community participation while simultaneously training current and future rehabilitation providers in best practices for long-term SCI management. My research agenda integrates implementation science, patient-centered outcomes, and health system data to inform pragmatic interventions that can be embedded within real-world care delivery. https://csh.recdesk.com/Community/Page?pageId=21339