Dr. Michal Avrech-Bar

Senior Lecturer, Department of Occupational Therapy, Stanley Steyer School of Health Professions, Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University

My primary area of research is exploring the relationship between occupation, health and well-being among women, especially as related to the role of mothering. I focus on the effects of occupational performance on life satisfaction and physical and mental health in various life-changing situations. The populations that I study include women who experienced a major change in their lives (such as transgender women or becoming a caregiver), single mothers, mothers of children who were diagnosed with ASD or ADHD, and healthy mothers from different social and cultural backgrounds. In my research I use qualitative (in-depth interviews) and quantitative (i.e. structural equation modeling) methods.

My second area of research is developing and evaluating advanced teaching methods in occupational therapy, specifically, testing the contribution of Problem-Based Learning (PBL) to the development of health professions students’ learning skills, communication skills and preparedness for interprofessional collaboration. 

• Weinblatt, N., Ziv, N., & Avrech-Bar, M. (2000). The old lady from the supermarket - Categorization of occupation according to performance areas: Is it relevant for the elderly? Journal of Occupational Science, 7, 73-79.

• Weinblatt, N., & Avrech-Bar, M. (2001). Postmodernism and its application to the field of occupational therapy. Canadian Journal of Occupational Therapy, 68, 164-170.

• Weinblatt, N., Avrech Bar, M. (2003). Benefits of Leisure and their reflection in old age. Gerontology (Israel), 30, 47-61.

• Weinblatt, N.,& Avrech-Bar, M. (2003). Rest: A qualitative exploration of the phenomenon. Occupational Therapy International, 10, 227-238.

• Weinblatt, N., Avrech Bar, M. (2005). Where is rest in occupational therapy? Israeli Journal of Occupational Therapy, 14, 127-139.

• Ratzon, N. Avrech Bar, M., & Halevy, Z. (2006). Accessibility surveys as a teaching tool and as a way to promote community accessibility. Israeli Journal of Occupational Therapy, 15, 83-91.

• Bart, O., Avrech Bar, M., Rosenberg, L., Hamudot, V., & Jarus, T. (2011). Development and validation of the Documentation of Occupational Therapy Session during Intervention (D.O.T.S.I.). Research in Developmental Disabilities, 32, 719-726

• Avrech Bar, M., Labock-Gal, D., & Jarus, T. (2011). Occupational performance, social support and satisfaction with life in single mothers compared with married mothers. Israeli Journal of Occupational Therapy, 20, 195-218.

• Avrech Bar, M., Rubin, V., Gavrieal-Tyjchman, G., & Jarus, T. (2013). The validity and reliability of the modified version of the Role Checklist (M-RCL). Scandinavian Journal of Occupational Therapy, 20, 454-462.

• Lipskaya-Velikovsky, L. Avrech Bar, M., & Bart, O. (2014). Context and psychosocial intervention in mental health. Scandinavian Journal of Occupational Therapy, 21, 136-144.

• Avrech Bar, M., & Jarus, T. (2015). The effect of engagement in everyday occupations, role overload and social support on health and life satisfaction among mothers. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 12(6), 6045-6065.

• Avrech Bar, M., Jlole Majadla, S.,& Bart, O. (2015). Managing everyday occupations as a predictor of health and life satisfaction among mothers of children with ADHD. Journal of Attention Disorders, September 4 [Epub ahead of print]. 

• Avrech Bar, M., Shelef, L., & Bart, O. (2016). Do participation and self-efficacy of mothers to children with ASD predict their children participation? Research in Autism Spectrum Disorders, 24, 1-10. 

• Avrech Bar, M., Jarus, T., Wada, M., Rechtman, L., & Noy, E. (2016). Male-to-female transitions: Implications for occupational performance history, health, and life satisfaction. Canadian Journal of Occupational Therapy, 83(2), 72-82. 

• Avrech Bar, M., Forwell, S., & Backman, C. (2016). Ascribing meaning to occupation: An example from healthy, working mothers. OTJR: Occupation, participation and Health, 36, 148-158. 

• Avrech Bar, M., Ratzon, N. Z. (2016). Enhancing occupational therapy students' knowledge, competence, awareness, and interest in accessibility. Hong Kong Journal of Occupational Therapy, 27, 18-25.

• Avrech Bar, M., Pade, M., Jarus, T., Gat, S., Kaufman Cohen, Y., & Lipskaya-Velikovsky, L. (2018). Problem-Based learning in occupational therapy curriculum – Implications and challenges. Disability and Rehabilitation, 40, 2098-2104.

• Avrech Bar, M., Katz Leurer, M., Warshawski, S., Itzhaki, M. (2018). The Role of personal resilience and personality traits of healthcare students on their attitudes towards interprofessional collaboration. Nurse Education Today, 61, 36-42.

• Rand, D., Givon, N., & Avrech Bar, M. (2018). A video-game group intervention: Experiences and perceptions of adults with chronic stroke and their therapists. Canadian Journal of Occupational Therapy, 85, 158-168.

• Rosenberg, L., Pade, M., Reizis, H., & Avrech Bar, M. (2019). Associations between meaning of everyday activities and participation among children. American Journal of Occupational Therapy, 73.

• Strauss, Z., Avrech Bar, M., Stanger, V. (2019). Fatherhood of a premature infant: “A rough rollercoaster ride”. Journal of Family Issues, 40, 982-1000.

• Clouston, T. J., Avrech Bar, M., Dür, M., Jones, J., Ilper, N., Kristensen, H. K., & Whitcombe, S. W. (2019). Occupational science research and practice: A brief report on European perspectives based on an online-survey. Journal of Occupational Science, 26, 329-335.

• Gat, S., Pade, M., & Avrech Bar, M. (2019). A picture paints a thousand words: Collage-making in higher education problem-based learning. Australian Journal of Adult Learning, 59(2), 170-196.