WFOT Newsletter: August 2023
Canadian Association of Occupational Therapists
Free Webinar Discusses How OTs Can be Allies and Accomplices to 2SLGBTQIA+ Populations
CAOT offered a free webinar (English only) this summer about understanding and addressing systemic barriers faced by 2SLGBTQIA+ populations. This webinar presented by Holly Reid gives an overview of the basics of gender, sex, sexual orientation, and inclusive language to equip participants with the knowledge and language to support 2SLGBTQIA+ populations.
The Canadian health care system has a long history of systemic racism, sexism, and other identity-based forms of discrimination. Occupational therapists are well positioned to understand and address these among other systemic barriers, in collaboration with clients and their families.
The webinar describes the historical context of systemic barriers faced by 2SLGBTQ+, followed by an exploration of how occupational therapists can be allies and accomplices to address systemic barriers within their sphere of influence. The webinar wraps up with a story of occupation-based joy and resilience from within the 2SLGBTQIA+ community.
Access the webinar here
CAOT Announces the 2023 Recipient of its Prestigious Muriel Driver Memorial Lectureship Award
CAOT is proud to announce that Dr. Gayle Restall is the recipient of the 2023 Muriel Driver Memorial Lectureship Award, the organization’s most prestigious honour that recognizes the outstanding contributions made by an individual in the fields of research, teaching, and the practice of occupational therapy. Dr. Restall is an occupational therapist and professor emerita in the Department of Occupational Therapy of the College of Rehabilitation Sciences, Rady Faculty of Health Sciences, at the University of Manitoba. As is tradition, she will deliver a lecture on a topic of her choice at CAOT Conference 2024, which is taking place in Halifax from May 1-3.
Dr. Restall has spent the past few years working collaboratively with her co-editor, Dr. Mary Egan, an international advisory panel, and key contributors to develop a new occupational therapy textbook that makes a powerful case for, and the beginnings of, a roadmap to disrupting existing colonial oppressions in occupational therapy. Throughout the development of Promoting Occupational Participation: Collaborative Relationship-Focused Occupational Therapy, she led efforts to ensure equity and justice considerations were central to these new ideas.
Phillip Wendt, CAOT’s President, said that Dr. Restall has been a powerful influence on and ally for social justice work in occupational therapy in Canada. He added that through teaching, research, mentorship, and advocacy, she has made and continues to make an outstanding contribution to the body of knowledge of occupational therapy.