Simon Driver

Associate Professor

College of Public Health and Human Sciences
206 Women's Building
Corvallis, OR 97330

Email contact form

Office phone: 541 737-3263
Fax: 541 737-6613

School, Department, or Affiliation

School of Biological and Population Health Sciences
IMPACT: Individualized Movement & Physical Activity for Children Today
Exercise and Sport Science
Movement Studies in Disability

Research Interests

Individuals with disabilities face many health disparities, including poor overall health, a lack of access to health-related resources or programs, and lower physical activity levels. These disparities don’t need to be present so it’s important that researchers identify evidence-based practices to improve the health of people with disabilities. Consequently, I specialize in promoting the physical activity behaviors of individuals with mobility disabilities (e.g., brain injury, spinal injury, multiple sclerosis, etc) through health promotion interventions. In the Health Promotion for People with Disabilities lab, I work closely with my doctoral students on a variety of intervention based projects aimed at helping people with a disability, that are living in our community, adopt and maintain physical activity as part of their lifestyle. We create interventions that focus on increasing physical activity awareness, goal-setting skills, ability to overcome barriers, utilization of social support, self-reward, and maintenance of behavior.

Spotlight

Do you want to be more physically active but have limited mobility?

One of our current research projects is a collaborative effort with Good Samaritan Regional Medical Center, which involves delivering an eight-week intervention aimed at increasing the physical activity behaviors of individuals with a mobility disability.

Being physically active is oftentimes challenging as we are faced with many barriers such as low energy, bad weather, limited resources, and a lack of support from friends and family. The program, which is being run at the Health Promotion for People with Disabilities lab on the Oregon State campus, aims to help participants become more active by teaching goal-setting, self-reward, problem solving, and social support skills.

Download a flyer (pdf) with more information on how to participate.

Research projects

I’m currently serving as co-director with Dr. J.K. Yun on two training grants (master’s personnel preparation grant and doctoral leadership grant) through the Office of Special Education Programs to prepare future professionals to work with individuals with disabilities.

I’m also a co-principal investigator (with Laurel Kincl in the College of Public Health and Human Sciences) on a project funded by the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health through the Oregon Healthy Workforce Center. The project involves creating an online wellness program for individuals with a disability who are trying to get back into the workplace. Laurel and I named the program “Be Active, Work Safe” as it focuses on improving the physical activity and workplace safety behaviors of individuals with a disability. The project is the first step I have taken into online wellness programs, and it’s one I’m excited about, as we may be able to improve the health of a wider group of individuals with disabilities.

Courses

Long Vita

Simon Driver | Curriculum Vitae

Biography

Associate Professor in Exercise and Sport Science in the School of Biological and Population Health Sciences in the College of Public Health and Human Sciences. Dr. Driver earned his doctorate in Adapted Physical Activity at the University of Virginia, and he comes to OSU from a faculty position at the University of North Texas.