Elizabeth Walker Peterson
Clinical Professor
Entry-level OTD Director of Professional Education
Occupational Therapy
Contact
Building & Room:
325 AHSB
Address:
1919 W. Taylor St.
Office Phone:
Email:
About
Dr. Peterson is Clinical Professor and Director of Professional Education ( E-OTD), Dept. of Occupational Therapy, Univ. of Illinois at Chicago. She earned her PhD from the Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm, Sweden, and has been a faculty member at UIC since 1993. Her accomplishments as an educator have been recognized with 11 awards including the inaugural (2019) American Occupational Therapy Association (AOTA) Distinguished Educator Award. Dr. Peterson’s clinical experience as an occupational therapist is primarily in the area of gerontology/physical disabilities. She has actively engaged in research on fall prevention research involving people living with MS and community-dwelling older adults for over 3 decades, and her work has helped to articulate occupational therapy’s role in interprofessional fall prevention efforts. She contributed to the development and evaluation of Matter of Balance (MOB), the most widely disseminated falls intervention program in the U.S and continues to support program dissemination. Interprofessional education is also an important focus of her scholarly work. Dr. Peterson is a Fellow of the AOTA.
Selected Grants
Paralyzed Veterans of America, Assessment and Prediction of Fall Concerns Among People with SCI and MS who use Wheelchairs and Scooters, Co- Investigator. PI: L. Rice
Swedish Research Council, A self-management program to prevent falls in ambulatory and non-ambulatory community dwelling people with multiple sclerosis (PwMS), Co-Investigator. PI: C. Ytterberg (Karolinska Institutet)
Craig H. Neilsen Foundation, Development and Validation of a mHealth Fall Management Program, Co-Investigator. PI: L. Rice (UIUC)
U.S. Department of Defense, Functional Balance Intervention (FBI) for Physical and Cognitive Symptoms of Multiple Sclerosis, Co-Investigator
Selected Publications
Moein, S., Peterson, E. W., & Rice, L. A. (2026). Predictors of concern about falling among adults who use wheelchairs and/or motorized mobility scooters full-time: a cross-sectional study. Disability and Health Journal, 102026. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dhjo.2026.102026
Johnson, S., Flink, M., Gottberg, K., Peterson, E., Meijer, U., Bylinder, J., Kierkegaard, J., Ytterberg, C. (2025). Effectiveness of Fewer Falls, an online group-based self-management fall prevention program for people with multiple sclerosis: protocol of a randomized controlled trial. BMJ Open, 15(1):e089217. DOI: 10.1136/bmjopen-2024-089217.
Moein, S., Peterson, E.W., Kottorp, A., Thompson, C., Mahajan, H.P., Rice, L.A. (2025). Development, reliability, and validity assessment of a fall concerns scale for people who use wheelchairs and scooters (FCS-WC/S). Disability and Rehabilitation, 47(8), 2123-2133.DOI: 10.1080/09638288.2024.2391107
Moein, S., Peterson, E. W., Rice, L. (2025). Factors associated with fear of falling and fall-related injuries among people who use wheelchairs and motorized mobility scooters: a cross-sectional study. Disability and Rehabilitation, 47 (5), 1185-1193, DOI: 10.1080/09638288.2024.236598.
Peterson, E. , Keehn, M., Hasnain, M.T., Gruss, V., Axelsson, M., Carlson, E., Jakobsson, E., Kottorp, A. (2024). Exploring differences in and factors influencing self-efficacy for competence in interprofessional collaborative practice among health professions students. J Interprof Care. 38(1): 104-112. doi: 10.1080/13561820.2023.2241504.
Howland, J., & Peterson, E.W (2024). The critical role of primary care health care professionals in referring older adults to community-based fall prevention programs. Frontiers in Public Health, 12:1377972. doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2024.1377972
Rice, L., Yehya, M., Yi, J., Koziel, S., Peterson, E.W. (2024). Translation, Extension, and Evaluation of Usability, Usefulness, and Safety of a Fall Prevention and Management Program for People Living with Spinal Cord Injury and Multiple Sclerosis who use Wheelchairs or Scooters Full Time. Frontiers in Rehabilitation Sciences, 5:1406938. DOI: 10.3389/fresc.2024.1406938.
McArthur, A.R. Peterson. E.W., Sosnoff, J.J., Backus, D., Yarnot, R., Abou, L., Kish, J., Steinkellner, S., Sandhu, A., Rice, L. (2023). Online Delivery of the Individualized Reduction of Falls Intervention for People with Multiple Sclerosis who use a Wheelchair or Scooter Full-time: A pilot study. International Journal of MS Care, 25(2), 82-90. DOI: 10.7224/1537-2073.2022-044.
Rice, L.A., Yarnot, R., Sung, J., Sosnoff, J.J., Backus, D., Abou, L., Shen, S., & Peterson, E.W. (2022). Pilot study of a fall prevention and management intervention program for people with multiple sclerosis who use a wheelchair or scooter full-time. Archives of Rehabilitation Research and Clinical Translation, 4(4):100225. doi: 10.1016/j.arrct.2022.100225.
Panel on Prevention of Falls in Older Persons, American Geriatrics Society and British Geriatrics Society.(2011). Summary of the updated American Geriatrics Society/British Geriatrics Society clinical practice guideline for prevention of falls in older persons. J Am Geriatr Soc, 59(1):148-57. (Peterson- Panel member)
Publication Aggregators
Service to Community
Dr. Peterson founded the IL Fall Prevention Coalition in ’08, and serves as the Coalition Co-Director & IL liaison to the Nat’l Council on Aging (NCOA)-led Falls Free Initiative. She is a founding member of the NCOA Falls Free Coalition, and has supported the AOTA’s efforts to solidify OT's role in fall prevention through a publications, conference presentations and CE programs.
Professional Leadership
Matter of Balance Lead Trainer, MaineHealth
Member, (Invited): National Home Safety and Home Modification Work Group; Consumer and Professional Education and Training Subcommittee, National Council on Aging
Member (Invited) Center for the Advancement of InterProfessional Practice, Education and Research (CAIPPER) Implementation Taskforce, University of Illinois at Chicago
Member (Invited): Planning Committee- 2024 Nat'l Fall Prevention Summit. Committee members charged with developing the 2025 Nat'l Fall Prevention Action Plan, National Council on Aging
Notable Honors
2019, OT/OTA Distinguished OT/OTA Educator Award (Inaugural award recipient)., American Occupational Therapy Association
2016, Award for Excellence in Teaching (AET), UIC
2014, Outstanding Academic Leadership Award, UIC College of Applied Health Sciences
2024, Interprofessional Teaching in Action Matters (I-TEAM) award. Recipient/faculty team: Hasnain, Gruss, Koronkowski, Peterson, UIC Office of the Vice Chancellor for Health Affairs.
Education
PhD, Medical Science, Karolinska Institutet, 2009
MPH, Social & Behavioral Sciences, Boston University, 1989
BS, Occupational Therapy, University of Florida, 1985
Licensures and Certifications
NBCOT Certification #576710
Licensed Occupational Therapist-Illinois #056-003114
Professional Memberships
Member- American Occupational Therapy Association (# 576710)
Member-Illinois Occupational Therapy Association (#1988)
Member- World Federation of Occupational Therapists
Member- Chicago Area Council of Occupational Therapy Directors