Aicha Djalo Balde

Aicha Djalo Balde joined the University of Huddersfield as a Lecturer in Occupational Therapy in November 2022 and is a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy. Her clinical background spans early intervention psychosis care, inpatient dementia care, mental health primary care, and third sector services, including a programme lead role within a mental health service for people from ethnic minority backgrounds.

Her previous research explored the cultural occupations of students from African backgrounds using a phenomenological approach, and she has presented findings from this work at the Royal College of Occupational Therapy’s annual conference.

Her research interests focus on spirituality and faith in wellbeing, mental health inequalities in ethnic minority communities, cultural humility in healthcare practice, and migration and occupational identity.