Professor
T325 – 2211 Wesbrook Mall
Vancouver, BC, V6T 2B5
Office: T-325 Koerner
Tel: 604-827-3392 Fax: 604-822-7624
Profile-Research-Teaching-Memberships-Publications
Research Graduate Student Opportunities
Current Research Graduate Students
- Tal currently has 2 MSc students and 4 PhD students.
Future Research Graduate Students
- Tal is accepting applications from students interested in research MSc and PhD programs. Visit the Rehabilitation Sciences Research Graduate Programs Website for more information.
- Martin Luther King -
Occupational Profile
Tal believes everyone has the right to be an occupational human being. “The personal is political” – whether she is playing basketball, biking, cooking with her children, reading, watching a movie with her partner, talking to her mother, working on a research project, or marking an assignment – she is always occupied. She believes that everyone has the right to participate in meaningful occupations.
“Our world is facing serious problems that affect the occupational performance of many people: violence, wars, chronic diseases, unemployment, poverty, and lack of acceptance and tolerance toward groups of people who differ from us. I am interested in looking at the relationship between the person, the environment and the occupation, to enhance health and well being of individuals and of society as a whole. That’s why I am an occupational therapy scientist!!”
Research Interests and Specialization
Tal’s two primary areas of research and graduate supervision are (1) motor learning with an emphasis on skill acquisition, retention and generalization, and (2) occupational performance, participation, health and well-being. More precisely Tal has developed a participation measure (ASAP), and currently investigates environmental effects on participation. Current projects include the effect of the built environment and obesity on participation of children with disabilities; participation of people with brain injuries; and the effect of attentional focus and type of activity on the motor learning of people with brain injury.
Teaching Interests
Tal believes that teaching methods should be appropriate to the new demands health professionals are constantly called upon to meet – from managing complex client situations, to adapting to changes in health care policy and delivery, to accessing multiple sources of information, to taking responsibility for their own ongoing professional development. She maintains that OT education should be based on principles of self-directed and active learning – students should take primary responsibility for learning and be able to determine their own learning goals and strategies, while the faculty’s role is to facilitate learning, by focusing on the process of gaining new knowledge, not just the memorization of facts. Tal tremendously enjoys supervising graduate students in research projects, which she views as a critical step in preparing evidence to guide and shape OT practice.
Activities and Memberships
Member, Canadian Association of Occupational Therapists (CAOT)
Member, British Columbia Society of Occupational Therapists (BCSOT)
Member, American Occupational Therapy Association (AOTA)
Member, World Federation of Occupational Therapists (WFOT)
Member, College of Occupational Therapists of British Columbia (COTBC)
Selected Publications
*links to articles provided when possible*
Jarus, T., Gol, D. (2005). The effect of social skills training groups on ADL performance of children with ADHD compared to children without ADHD, as measured by the AMPS. Developmental Medicine and Child Neurology, 47, 539-545.
Jarus, T., Ratzon, N. (2005). The implementation of motor learning principles in designing prevention programs at work. Work, 24, 171-182.
Jarus, T., Barnea, R., Waserlauf, N., Burtz, L., Yakoel, S., Gal On, I., Peleg. L., Grinbaum, S. (2005). The development of the Israeli Adults Assessment of Participation. The Israeli Journal of Occupational Therapy, 15, H93-H111.
Engel-Yeger, B., Jarus, T., Law, M. (2007). Impact of culture on children’s community participation. American Journal of Occupational Therapy, 61, 421-428.
