The OSOT community was saddened by the loss of Dr. Mike Prescott on Tuesday September 17, 2024, following a recurrence of a brain tumour.
Dr. Prescott was an accomplished UBC RHSC PhD student (graduated in May 2021), supervised by Dr. Ben Mortenson. He built an extensive and varied career in disability rights advocacy and inclusive environments, working to develop accessibility plans with partners and organizations across BC.
We would like to take the opportunity to commemorate Dr. Prescott’s life and achievements in respect of his significant legacy to rehabilitation sciences.
Mike Prescott, BSc, MA, MBA, PhD
Disability Rights & Advocacy
Dr. Prescott had extensive experience with disability rights and advocacy and familiarity with best practices in accessibility, having spent over 25 years advocating for accessible and inclusive environments in Canada and abroad. He not only had an intimate knowledge of best practices in accessibility, but helped lead the charge in creating them – as demonstrated in his academic and professional pursuits. He completed his MA in Urban Planning at the University of Waterloo where his thesis focused on assessing the accessibility of urban infrastructure. For his PhD at UBC, he studied the mobility and wayfinding strategies of people with disabilities.
Dr. Prescott’s work covered advocacy and allyship across multiple identity groups. The disability community is not monolithic, and although much of his work was focused on people with mobility disability, he worked with a broader cross-section of people with disabilities, for example in the Providing Accessible ReCreation Outdoors: User-driven Research on Standards (PARCOURS) project which included people with sensory and cognitive disabilities. He also supported academic partners working in the Gerontology Department at Simon Fraser University to create tools for older adults to self-evaluate active transportation infrastructure (such as Dr. Atiya Mahmood’s Stakeholder Walk/wheelability Assessment of Neighbourhoods (SWAN)).
Leadership
From 2007 until 2009, Dr. Prescott was the Manager of Accessible Tourism in British Columbia where he developed and led the BC strategy for marketing accessible tourism worldwide ($1.5M annual budget). In this role, he liaised with senior government officials, collaborated with a wide variety of businesses, and worked closely with disability organizations throughout the province.
During his PhD, Dr. Prescott was a Project Manager for the Enabling Mobility and Participation among those with disabilities (dEMAND) project that examined the activity spaces of mobility device users in urban environments. As part of his post-doctoral training Dr. Prescott was the project manager on a grant to develop accessibility standards for national parks (Providing Accessible ReCreation Outdoors: User-driven Research on Standards – PARCOURS).
He was the Project Manager of the Accessible Organizations Project at Disability Alliance BC where he guided over 750 organizations in developing accessibility plans. Most recently, he was the Director of Operations at the Center for Research and Education in Accessible Technology and Experiences, continuing to apply his significant experience and expertise.
Knowledge Translation
Dr. Prescott had excellent knowledge translation skills was adept in tailoring his communication to both academic and non-academic audiences. As part of his studies and professional career, he presented at international conferences, published numerous journal articles, facilitated partnerships with academic and community stakeholders, mentored others, and taught students in several programs about how accessibility should affect their future work.
He also reached out to municipal governments to leverage research by developing tools and training to enhance accessibility. He worked with the city of North Vancouver to change their policies and procedures about how they planned and communicated about sidewalk obstructions related to construction.
Research & Teaching
Dr. Prescott was a passionate and diligent researcher. His paper-based PhD thesis is a testament to his work ethic, intellectual ability and research creativity. Four chapters of his thesis have been published, including a scoping review in Transport Reviews; an empirical study on activity spaces of mobility device users in Health and Place; an empirical study on wayfinding and wayfaring strategies among wheeled mobility device users in the Journal of Transport & Health; and an empirical study to develop a conceptual framework of route choices among wheeled mobility device users in the Journal of Environmental Psychology. His thesis displays the breadth of research methodologies that he had at his command, including systematic review techniques, mixed-methods research skills, familiarity with GIS data analysis and concept mapping.
While completing his PhD, Dr. Prescott was generous with his time, and volunteered annually to teach in the wheelchair skills bootcamp for our Master of Occupational Therapy (MOT) students.
Wheelchair Basketball
A passionate sportsman, Dr. Prescott was heavily involved in wheelchair basketball, serving as the regional coach for the BC Wheelchair Basketball Society (BCWBS) in Greater Vancouver, and later taking on the role of project manager for the Let’s Play Project, which supports children with disabilities to develop the skills they need to confidently participate in play, sport and physical education with their peers.
This list is only a fraction of Dr. Prescott’s legacy. Mike had a big heart and a great sense of humour, and will be sorely missed.
Image credit: Personal photo of Dr. Mike Prescott