Assistant Professor of Teaching
phone: 604-822-0859
tanya.fawkes@ubc.ca
Profile
I am proud to be an alumna of the Master of Occupational Therapy program here at UBC (MOT ‘06) after completing my BA in Psychology at SFU (2003). I have a long history with the Department and have served as a member of the Clinical Faculty since 2018.
I discovered my love of occupational therapy when I worked with a Neuropsychologist as a test technician. Assessing and sharing results felt like a starting point to me and I wanted to move on to how we could help people work with the “impairments” they lived with. Luckily, the Neuropsychologist I worked with had previously trained as an OT and he identified that I was an “OT – type.” I now have nearly 20 years of experience across healthcare disciplines including mental health, neurological illness and changes and rehabilitation in research, assessment, and clinical practice in both hospitals and the community. I have also worked in medical-legal services consultation, providing Cost of Future Care assessments and reports to inform court decisions.
Most recently, I had the privilege of representing and advocating for occupational therapy and OTs in BC in my role as Regional Director for CAOT-BC. In addition to my role with UBC, I also have my own practice focused on providing OT recommended home modifications for the lived environments of individuals with illness, injury or ageing-related changes. Throughout my career, I have been passionate about designing living spaces to promote ability and to enrich a person’s daily life, and I have developed specialist expertise in home modifications, equipment prescription and accessibility in construction planning.
As my career in occupational therapy has progressed, I have increasingly recognized that leadership is undeniably an innate part of the role. As OTs, we are all natural leaders – each in our own way – working with clients and each other towards a vision of a positive future. In my role with UBC, I hope to continue to empower other OTs to recognize their ability to lead and to affect change wherever they work.
When I am not working, I am raising my beautiful kids and playing as much as possible with them and our two dogs.
Research
While research will not be my focus in a teaching role, I continue to supplement my teaching and personal interests with research in the areas of the design and modifications of residential homes, accessibility theory/law, and advocacy for the occupational therapist position in healthcare practices.
Teaching
The majority of my teaching will be from the UBC MOT Surrey site with the Fraser cohort.
Graduate and Postdoctoral Research Opportunities
Future Research Graduate Students
Please contact Tanya directly to inquire about opportunities.
Affiliations
- College of Occupational Therapy BC (Registrant)
- CAOT member and volunteer
Select Publications
*link to articles provided when possible*
Fawkes T, Croft C, Peters C, Mortenson B. (2023). Exploring sustainability of home modifications and adaptations in occupational therapy (Manuscript submitted for publication). School of Rehabilitation Sciences, University of British Columbia.
Fawkes T, Croft C, Peters C, Mortenson B. (2023, May 10 -12) Exploring sustainability of home modifications and adaptations in occupational therapy. (Poster Presentation). Canadian Association of Occupational Therapists National Conference, Saskatoon, SK, Canada.
Fawkes T, Yung O, Miller WC, Smith E, Matharu P, Yu N. (2023). The impact of COVID-19 restrictions on the delivery of OT: how technology use affected practice during COVID-19 among occupational therapists in British Columbia (Manuscript submitted for publication). School of Rehabilitation Sciences, University of British Columbia.
Fawkes-Kirby TM, Wheeler M, Anton HA, Miller WC, Townson AF, and Weeks CAO. (2007) Clinical correlates of fatigue in spinal cord injury. Spinal Cord, advance online publication 3 Apr 07 (poster presented at the 2nd National Spinal Cord Injury Conference, October 2006)
Thornton AE, Boudreau, VG, Griffiths, SY, Woodward, TS, Fawkes-Kirby, TM, and Honer, WG. (2007) The impact of monetary reward on memory in schizophrenia spectrum disorder. Neuropsychology, 21(5), 631-45.(posters presented at the annual meetings of the International Neuropsychological Society in Feb 2004 and the Canadian Psychology Association in June 2004)
Winters, KC, Fawkes, T, Fahnhorst, T, Botzet, A, and Wugust, G. (2007) A synthesis review of exemplary drug abuse prevention programs in the united states. Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment, 32(4), 371-80.