View All
Portrait of Joyce Engel

Joyce M. Engel, PhD, OT, FAOTA

  • Professor Emerita, Programs in Occupational Therapy Science, Technology & Rehabilitation

Speaker Topics

  • Pain Assessment
  • Pain Interventions
  • Pain in Youths
  • Physical Disability-Related Pain
  • Cognitive Behavior Therapy

Interests & Expertise

Joyce Engel’s research focuses on pain assessments and pain interventions for persons with chronic pain, especially youths with physical disabilities, e.g., cerebral palsy, muscular dystrophy. She has developed three valid and reliable pain assessments for youths with physical disability-related pain: the Pediatric Community Participation Questionnaire, Survey of Pain Attitudes – Pediatric Version and the Modified Brief Pain Inventory.

Engel has investigated the efficacy of relaxation techniques, biofeedback, hypnosis and cognitive restructuring as analgesia in persons with chronic pain. She has been an investigator on several pain grants funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

Engel participated in numerous service projects with the American Occupational Therapy Association (AOTA), the American Occupational Therapy Foundation (AOTF), the Agency for Health Care Policy and Research, the Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities, Paralyzed Veterans of America and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.