Portrait photo of Thomas Morgenthaler

Thomas Morgenthaler

Postdoctoral Researcher, Department of Landscape Architecture, Planning and Management
E-mail
thomas.morgenthaler@slu.se
Thomas Morgenthaler is a researcher and occupational therapist studying outdoor play and inclusive environmental design. He explores how playgrounds, school grounds, and community spaces can better support participation and wellbeing for children of all abilities.

Presentation

Thomas is currently a postdoctoral researcher at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Department of Landscape Architecture, Planning and Management, where he leads research on neuro-inclusive outdoor play environments. He will also be a visiting researcher at Cornell University, Department of Human Centered Design, United States. In this research he combines user-centred, participatory approaches with environmental evaluation to inform planning, design, and management of play spaces that are usable, meaningful, and equitable.

Thomas holds a PhD in Occupational Science from University College Cork and Queen Margaret University, funded by a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Horizon 2020 fellowship. His doctoral work resulted in the development of the Playground Play Value and Usability Audit (PVUA tool), an evidence-informed tool used to evaluate how outdoor play environments afford diverse forms of play for children with and without disabilities. Alongside his research, Thomas teaches, supervises and mentors students at undergraduate, master’s, and doctoral levels and is actively involved in international research networks and professional organisations.

 

Research

His main research interests include:

  • Inclusive and neuro-inclusive play spaces
  • Children’s participation and perspectives
  • Outdoor play including environmental affordances and play value
  • School- and community-based occupational therapy
  • Knowledge translation between research, and practice (e.g. developing and using evaluation tools and methods)

 

Ongoing research projects:

 

Research projects

Research Publications

  • Morgenthaler, T., Loebach, J., Lynch, H., Pentland, D., Kottorp, A., & Schulze, C. (2025). Developing the Playground Play Value and Usability Audit (PVUA) Tool: An Evaluation of Content Validity via an Expert Panel. Children, Youth and Environments. 35(2), 93-123. https://muse.jhu.edu/article/967827.
  • Bratun, U., Morgenthaler, T., & Lee, Ben. (2025). Using Visual research methods to research occupations: A scoping review. Scandinavian Journal of Occupational Therapy, 32(1), 2519261. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/11038128.2025.2519261  [Bratun and Morgenthaler share first authorship]
  • Orain, C., Morgenthaler, T., & Schulze, C. (2025). Walking, Talking, Playing: Children with Disabilities’ Outdoor Play in French Mainstream School Playgrounds. Scandinavian Journal of Occupational Therapy. https://doi.org/10.1080/11038128.2025.2459150
  • Morgenthaler, T., Lynch, H., Loebach, J., Pentland, D., & Schulze, C. (2024). Using the theory of affordances to understand environment-play transactions: Environmental taxonomy of outdoor playspace features—A scoping review. American Journal of Occupational Therapy, 78(4). https://doi.org/10.5014/ajot.2024.050606
  • Krieger, B., Ederer, F., Amann, R., Morgenthaler, T., Schulze, C., & Dawal, B. (2024). Translation and cross-cultural adaptation of the Young Children Participation and Environment Measure (YC-PEM) for use in Austria, Germany, and Switzerland. Frontiers in Pediatrics, 11, 1258377. https://doi.org/10.3389/fped.2023.1258377
  • Morgenthaler, T., Kramer-Roy, D., & Schulze, C. (2023). Environmental Adjustment Needs of Children with Special Educational Needs in Austrian Mainstream Schools: The Child and Teacher Perspective. Journal of Occupational Therapy, Schools, & Early Intervention, 16(2), 138–159. https://doi.org/10.1080/19411243.2022.2027838 
  • Morgenthaler, T., Schulze, C., Pentland, D., & Lynch, H. (2023). Environmental qualities that enhance outdoor play in community playgrounds from the perspective of children with and without disabilities: A scoping review. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 20(3), 1763. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph20031763
  • Ulbrich-Ford, S., & Morgenthaler, T. (2023). Positionspapier zur schul- und kindergartenbasierten Ergotherapie: Ergotherapie Austria – Bundesverband der Ergotherapeutinnen und Ergotherapeuten Österreich [Position Paper on School-based Occupational Therapy: Austrian Association of Occupational Therapy]. Pädiatrie & Pädologie, 58(S1), 41–43. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00608-023-01070-8
  • Krieger, B., Moser, A., Morgenthaler, T., Beurskens, A. J. H. M., & Piškur, B. (2022). Parents’ Perceptions: Environments and the Contextual Strategies of Parents to Support the Participation of Children and Adolescents with Autism Spectrum Disorder—A Descriptive Population-Based Study from Switzerland. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders. 54, 871–893. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-022-05826-2