News

On August 20^th, faculty, students and staff came out to see the Schools of Occupational Therapy and Physiotherapy get a drenching as part of the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge.

The School of OT was challenged earlier in the week by Dalhousie Dentistry’s Dr. Tom Boran. OT Director, Dr. Tanya Packer, jumped at the chance to take part.

“Occupational Therapists do a lot of work with individuals with ALS,” explained Dr. Packer. “This seemed like a great opportunity to raise awareness about this disease and to share information about the role of OTs in assisting people who suffer from ALS.”

A number of faculty at the School are involved in research projects that focus on improving services and quality of life for individuals with ALS and other debilitating diseases.

Check out the video of Dr. Packer, OT Student Society President Brayden Connell and OT student Courtney Vokey getting ‘iced.’

As part of the Challenge, the School of OT is also raising funds for ALS Canada. At taping, the School had already raised $500. They also issued a challenge of their own – to the School of Physiotherapy, the Dalhousie Tigers and the Fountain School of Performing Arts.

Dr. Derek Rutherford, Assistant Professor at the School of Physiotherapy, was more than ready for the challenge! Dr. Rutherford and a group of Physiotherapy students responded almost immediately with a dunking of their own. Check out the School of Physio’s video.

“As part of their training, our students study strategies to deal with the progressive weakness and declining mobility that clients with ALS experience,” said Dr. Rutherford. “Physiotherapists work with ALS patients throughout all phases of their disease helping them to optimize function, maintain mobility and providing physical interventions to help maximize quality of life. We see the impact this disease has on individuals and as a School, we wanted to help raise awareness about ALS.”

As part of the drenching, Dr. Rutherford issued a challenge to the Dalhousie Student Union, the Nova Scotia Physiotherapy Association and the Nova Scotia Rehabilitation Centre to take the Ice Bucket Challenge or make a donation to the ALS Canada.

For more information on ALS or to make a donation visit www.alsa.org or www.alsa.org/donate.