Department of Rehabilitation Sciences

Education

Ph.D., 2020, Occupational Science, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
M.S., 2014, Occupational Therapy, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
B.A., 2012, Anthropology, University of South Florida, St. Petersburg

Certification/Licensure

National Board for Certification in Occupational Therapy (USA)
North Carolina Board of Occupational Therapy

Experience and Research Interests

Outpatient and Acute-care Pediatric OT
Pediatric Occupations
Post-secondary Transition for Youth with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities
Scholarship of Teaching and Learning in Occupational Therapy
Interprofessional Education
Discursive and Relational Theoretical Explorations of Occupation

Teaching

OT 5800 - Occupation-Based Program Development for Population Health
OT 5720 - Occupation-Based Practice with Older Adults Lab
OT 5750 - Applied Scholarly Inquiry
OT 5350 - Disability and Health Conditions I: Childhood to Early Adulthood
OT 5850 - Leadership, Management, and Professionalism in OT Practice

Biography

Dr. Adam DePrimo is an Assistant Professor of Occupational Therapy in the Department of Rehabilitation Sciences. He completed his BA in Anthropology from USF St. Petersburg, an MS in Occupational Therapy and PhD in Occupational Science from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. His dissertation research charted occupational opportunities for young adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities transitioning to post-secondary life. Current research interests include discursive perspectives of occupation as well as andra- and heutagogical approaches to OT teaching and scholarship. Dr. DePrimo's clinical experiences include community- and hospital-based care for adults and older adults. However, the majority of his experiences reside within out- and in-patient pediatric settings as well as high school and college programs. Dr. DePrimo comes to App State from the University of New England in Portland Maine's Department of Occupational Therapy. Dr. DePrimo is committed to exploring all aspects of occupation and its role in promoting health, well-being, and belonging.

Recent Scholarship

DePrimo, A. & Winston, K. (2025) Cheet-Sheets and Heutagogy: Breaking Old Habits. Presented at the 9th Annual UNE CETL Spring Symposium, May 2025, Biddeford, ME.

DePrimo, A. & Gullion, L. (2024) The Critical Methodological Impasse: Analyzing the Discursive Practices of SSO:USA Scholarship. Presented at The Society for the Study of Occupation (SSO:USA) Annual Research Conference, October 2024, Durham, NC.

Cohen Konrad, S., Sela-Amit, M., & DePrimo, A. (2024) Enhancing Interprofessional Connections Through the Use of the Arts for Education, Research, Practice, and Activism. Presented at The Society for the Study of Occupation (SSO:USA) Annual Research Conference, October 2024, Durham, NC.

Zorda, E., Sargent, M., Gose, C., Becker, M., DePrimo, A., Batteson, T., & Garber, S. (2024). Challenging Hierarchies and Fostering Collaboration: A Critical Discourse Analysis of Interprofessional Education in Healthcare Training. Presented at Nexus Summit 2024, National Center for Interprofessional Practice and Education, September 2024, Virtual.

Brandow, K. & DePrimo, A. (2024). Looking Through the Lens of Cultural Humility: Occupational Therapy in Morocco and Cross-Cultural Expressions of Occupational Engagement. Presented at American Occupational Therapy Association (AOTA) Inspire Annual Conference, March 2024, Orlando, FL.

Popova, E., O'Brien, J., Yu, M-L, Wolske, J., DePrimo, A., Brown, T. (2024). Occupations of school-age. In T. Brown, S. Isbel, L. Gustagsson, S. Gutman, D. Powers Dirette, B. Collins, & T. Barlott (Eds.), Human occupation: Contemporary concepts and lifespan perspectives. Routledge.

DePrimo, A., Crampsey, E., & Winston, K. (2023). Embracing "It Depends" in OT Curriculum Design to Facilitate Inquiry & Critical Reasoning for Practice: Being Comfortable with the Uncomfortable. Presented at AOTA Education Summit, October 2023, Denver, CO.