Image: Dr. Skye Barbic and OSOT students at CAOT 2024
The Canadian Association of Occupational Therapists (CAOT) annual conference is a superb opportunity for those working in occupational therapy and occupational science to connect, network and learn from each other.
This year, #CAOT2024 was held in Kjipuktuk/Halifax, Nova Scotia, and a number of UBC OSOT faculty, MOT students and postgraduate researchers attended to present their research and share ideas with the wider community.
At the awards ceremony, four faculty members were honoured with CAOT awards. Each winner is an accomplished leader in their respective areas and we are delighted for their success and recognition. Pass on your congratulations if you have the opportunity.
Our 2024 CAOT Award Winners
Dr. Skye Barbic
CAOT-BC Outstanding Occupational Therapist of the Year
Dr. Barbic’s internationally recognized work in improving the provision of mental health care for young people has impacted youth across BC, and will soon impact youth across the country. As the lead scientist at Foundry, a province-wide network of integrated health and wellness services for young people ages 12-24, Dr. Barbic’s research continually aims to improve services and outcomes for youth in a way that is meaningful to the youth themselves.
Dr. Barbic acts as a leader and advocate for the vital role that occupational therapists play in managing and treating mental illness mental health services. She shares her research and expertise locally, nationally, and internationally, and with the next generation of occupational therapists through her teaching at UBC.
Congratulations Dr. Barbic!
Tanya Fawkes
CAOT Award of Merit
Tanya Fawkes joined the faculty earlier this year and brings with her a legacy of excellence in the area of home modifications. Her work with the Home Modifications Task Force for CAOT has been instrumental to shaping policy, practice, and education in the area of Home Modifications practice across Canada. Tanya and her team were successful in advocating for the invaluable role that OTs play in helping people live in their chosen spaces.
Some of the wins of the group (individually and collectively) were involved in the development of the BC Housing RAHA program through consultation, participating in the development of education materials and programs about accessibility for OTs and other professions related to construction and design of lived environments, and more.
Congratulations Tanya!
Sarabjeet Charchun (Clinical Faculty)
CAOT Leadership Award
Sarabjeet Charchun is a valued member of our clinical faculty team, supporting admissions and fieldwork since 2003. She is based at Surrey Memorial Hospital, and her leadership, teaching and overall advocacy for the profession has been both exceptional and transformational.
Sarabjeet acts as a leader and role model to positively change the profession of Occupational Therapy. She has served as President of the BC Society of Occupational Therapists, is currently co-chair of Fraser Health’s Outpatient Rehabilitation Working Group, and recently co-led a regional initiative to expand specialized outpatient rehabilitation major lower limb amputation services to patients and their families in the Fraser Health North catchment area. In everything she does, Sarabjeet influences practice at local, regional, and national levels, and supports therapists and students at various practice stages to develop their own leadership skills and practice expertise.
Well-deserved Sarabjeet!
Sarah Mills (Clinical Faculty)
CAOT Fieldwork Award
A special mention also goes to clinical faculty member, Sarah Mills who works in Mental Health and Substance Use (MHSU) at Fraser Health.
Sarah has been a clinical faculty member since 2016 and we were so pleased to see her recognized for her incredible contributions to fieldwork education.
Read more about her work and experiences as a fieldwork educator in our Clinical Faculty spotlight from last year.
A great achievement Sarah!
UBC OSOT Presentations at CAOT 2024
Images: Current students from the MOT Class of 2024 Kirby Way and Hanna Pahl presenting their poster at CAOT 2024
Members of the UBC OSOT community were part of 17 poster presentations, 7 paper presentations and 4 dialogic or professional forum sessions, plus 1 pre-recorded session and also an extended discussion led by current student Kirby Way (MOT Class of 2024) and Holly Reid (current PhD student and MOT graduate from the Class of 2019).
Browse through the vast range of topics and approaches in each area and read the full abstracts and overview of each presentation in the CAOT 2024 session list.
(All UBC students unless noted. UBC OSOT faculty in italics. Listed in order of presentation.)
Poster Presentations
Belonging: Experiences of faculty and occupational therapy students
Jennifer Shim, Ruth Jen, Katie Lee Bunting, Dr. Elly Park, Dr. Laura Bulk
Connecting the dots: Community and connection in distributed learning
Taylor Lang, Jodie Leong, Katie Lee Bunting, Dr. Laura Bulk, Dr. Elly Park
Occupation of peer support within an integrated youth services initiative
Kaylie Schols-Flett, Bridgette Ferrara, Madelyn Whyte (Foundry), Cassia Warren
(Foundry), Matt Wenger (Foundry), Dr. Skye Barbic
The Geography of Inequity: Evaluating Transportation Equity in the GTA
Shabnam Medhizadah (Western University, London) Dr. Suzanne Huot, Debbie Laliberte Rudman (Western University), Liliana Alvarez (Western University)
Are we preparing students for culturally safe practices? Faculty perspectives
Jordyne Greenspoon, Sarah Weseen, Kaarina Valavaara (Dalhousie University),
Jay MacDonald, Dr. Tal Jarus
Investigating pressure injury risk in individuals with darker skin tone
Julia Donohue, Sarah Wasik, Jill Wong (Vancouver Coastal Health), Dr. Bill Miller
Implementing and evaluating an inclusive aquatic program: A pilot project
Alanna Toth, Daryl Lum, Miini Teng (Aquafit for All), Ana Arciniega (Aquafit for All), Dr. Tal Jarus
Can accredited facility support dogs increase engagement in occupational therapy?
Caitlyn DeBruyne, Claire Peachey, Lianna Walker, Dr. Elisha Williams, Dr. Jill Zwicker
Autonomy, competence, and relatedness: Determining their relative importance for motivation
Candace Chau, Maggie Chan, Dr. Brodie Sakakibara, Jacob Bosancich (Meridian Rehabilitation Consulting Inc.)
My diversity matters: Diversifying health professions through a youth program
Hanna Pahl, Kirby Way, Nassim Adhami, Dr. Laura Bulk, Dr. Ben Mortenson, Jeff Boniface, Dr. Julia Schmidt, Michael Lee, Dr. Tal Jarus
Researcher’s experiences of interviews with individuals with traumatic brain injury
Rinni Mamman, Dr. Julia Schmidt
EMPIRe2–MS: virtual health delivery of a fatigue management intervention
Justin Ng, Marisa Lin, Denise Kendrick (Vancouver Coastal Health), Dr. Susan Forwell
Deepening our understanding of belonging as a dimension of occupation
Anne-Cécile Delaisse, Dr. Suzanne Huot
Improving community transition for people with spinal cord injury
Ivneet Lidder, Olivia Vezza, Rachel Abel, Julie Deveau, Murveena Jeawon, Chih-ting Tsai, Jeanne Yiu, Anousha Jackson, Kaylah Kozma, Samantha Kang
Essential skills for new occupational therapists practicing rurally
Katie Wingerter, Miranda Doerksen, Jay Macdonald
Evaluating cognition in everyday occupation for persons with MS program
Garima Manek, Serena Jacob, Denise Kendrick (Vancouver Coastal Health), Dr. Susan Forwell
Participants’ perceptions of immigrant employment in the platform economy
Hae Won Cho, Victoria Brown, Atieh Razavi Yekta, Dr. Suzanne Huot
Paper Presentations
Conducting relational and respectful research: A community-driven priority setting project
Holly Reid, Dr. Suzanne Huot
Brain changes with CO-OP in children with autism and DCD
Dr. Jill Zwicker, Melika Kangarani-Farahani
The challenge of collective occupations in a context of exclusion
Dr. Suzanne Huot, Anne-Cécile Delaisse
‘I will eat the whole world’: Migration informing food-related occupations
Georgia Carswell, Katie Pagdin, Anne-Cécile Delaisse, Dr. Suzanne Huot
Mental health and participation of children with DCD: Parental perspectives
Dr. Jill Zwicker, Marcia Paget, Afton Servatius, Erin Klein, Alexis Davis
Community Occupational Therapy: Increasing capacity for student placements
Jaime Wong, Amanda Wright, Lauren Laing (Island Health), Dr. Elisha Williams, Dr. Susan Forwell
Accessing Services for Developmental Coordination Disorder in Canada: Parent Perspectives
Arman Gill, Nicole Pereira, Erin Klein, Alexis Davis, Dr. Jill Zwicker
Dialogic Sessions & Extended Discussions
Dialogic Sessions
Migration Rights: Our role in resisting the causes of forced migration and supporting those experiencing it
Sara Abdo (Dalhousie University), Setareh Ghahari (Queens University), Dr. Suzanne Huot
Guidelines for curriculum renewal in Canadian occupational therapy university programs
Katie Lee Bunting, Rebecca Timbeck (University of Western Ontario), Anne Hunt (University of Toronto), Diane MacKenzie (Dalhousie University), Katrine Sauvé-Schenk (University of Ottawa), Marie-Eve Buldoc (McGill University), Nicole Bobbette (Queens University), Véronique Flamand (Université Laval)
Climate Change & Sustainable Occupations
Dr. Ben Mortenson, Janet Craik (CAOT), Jeff Boniface, Nicola Schaan (Professional Practice)
Professional Issue Forum
Meeting the Mental Health Needs of Canadians – OT in 2034
Dr. Skye Barbic, Stephanie Bizzeth (Office of Addictions and Mental
Health), Michelle Ferguson (Chair of CAOT Mental Health & Substance Use
Practice Network) Fizza Jafry (McGill University), Kim
Hewitt-McVicker (Master University), Niki Kiepek (Dalhousie University), Carrie
Anne Marshall (Director of the Social Justice in Mental Health Research Lab, Western University)
Extended Discussion
Defying the deficit: Shifting understandings of transgender experiences of occupation
Kirby Way, Holly Reid
Pre-recorded Session
Understanding user experiences of virtual acquired brain injury support programs
Jasleen Grewal, Sarah Vu Nguyen (Brain Injury Association of Peel and Halton), Nichola Nonis (Brain Injury Association of Peel and Halton), Hardeep Singh (University of Toronto)
Images: OSOT students at CAOT; Kaylie Schols-Flett and Bridgette Ferrara with poster presentation at CAOT 2024
If you have any photographs from CAOT 2024, please send to news.osot@ubc.ca for inclusion.
Images: OSOT, except Sarabjeet Charchun (personal image) and images from CAOT (from Dr. Skye Barbic, Dr. Ben Mortenson and Dr. Susan Forwell)