Dr Rebecca Feo

Senior Research Fellow

College of Nursing and Health Sciences

+61 8 8201 3502
place Sturt North
GPO Box 2100, ADELAIDE, SA, 5001

Dr Feo is a Senior Research Fellow in the College of Nursing and Health Sciences. Since beginning work in academia in 2015, Dr Feo has achieved national and international recognition for her research on the role of professional therapeutic relationships and communication in ensuring high-quality care delivery. She applies this research expertise in relation to fundamental care (the universal care required by everyone regardless of clinical condition or care setting) and help-seeking for familial and parenting issues.

In recognition of her substantial research expertise and impact, in 2023 Dr Feo was appointed the inaugural International Learning Collaborative (ILC) Erik Sorensen Foundation Fellow for Research. The ILC is the foremost global organisation dedicated to transforming fundamental care. Since 2023, she has also served as a member of the ILC's Strategy and Policy Forum, providing advice on the organisation's strategic direction.

As further recognition of her expertise in fundamental care, in 2024, Dr Feo was appointed the College of Nursing and Health Science's inaugural Nexus Scholar. In this role, she will embed a focus on fundamental care into health sciences curricula. Also in 2024, Dr Feo was named as one of the top 2% of researchers globally in the Stanford/Elsevier rankings (based on citations).

Qualifications

BPsych(Hons), PhD

Honours, awards and grants
  • 2024: Contracted Research - International Learning Collaborative
  • 2023: Contracted Research - Royal Australasian College of Surgeons
  • 2020: Research Grant - Nurses' Memorial Foundation of South Australia
  • 2019: Mid Career Researcher Award - College of Nursing and Health Sciences, Flinders University
  • 2019: Research Grant - Australian College of Nursing
  • 2018: Research Grant - The Hospital Research Foundation
  • 2015: Research Travel Award for Early Career Researcher - Faculty of Health Sciences, The University of Adelaide
  • 2012: Dean's Commendation for Thesis Excellence - The University of Adelaide
  • 2007: University Medal - The University of Adelaide
  • 2007: Australian Psychological Society Prize in Psychology
Teaching interests
  • Fundamental care
  • Patient-provider relationships
  • Therapeutic communication

 

Topic coordinator
HLTH7012 Research Communication and Translation
HLTH7013 Research Methods 1
Interests
  • Care provider-recipient relationships
  • Fundamental care
  • Men's help-seeking
  • Nurse-patient relationships
  • Relational care