Spring 2024 Research Highlights
School of Occupational Therapy's Associate Professor, Crystal Dieleman recently contributed to the CAOT’s Conversations That Matter: The Podcast.
Click to hear: Episode 36: Wholistic Occupational Therapy with Criminalized Populations: Remembering our Humanity.
Congratulations to Niki Kiepek and Heidi Lauckner and their teams on receiving Global Research Seed Funding (GRSF).
The fund is intended to support the development of international research initiatives between Dalhousie researchers and their global partners.
Dr. Kiepek's Research Project: Global approaches to advance social occupational therapy in response to health and social inequities.
Principal Investigator: Niki Kiepek
Co-investigators: Ana Maliftano, Kaarina Valavaara, Ana Carolina Almeida Prado
Brief summary:
Our project bridges knowledges across the Global North and Global South to enhance systemic approaches and social participation. Canadian team members will travel to Brazil to engage in dialogue with occupational therapists and scholars who specialize in social occupational therapy to learn directly about the design and delivery of social occupational therapy.
With increased evidence of health disparities, housing insecurity, and poverty in Canada, alongside a scarcity of resources and excessive wait times for individualized physical health, mental health, addiction services, and social services, social occupational therapy is a promising approach.
Niki Kiepek (Associate Professor, Dalhousie School of Occupational Therapy), Kaarina Valavaara (Instructor, Dalhousie School of Occupational Therapy), and Keri Chambers (Occupational Therapist, Newfoundland and Labrador Health Services Harm Reduction Clinic) have been invited by Ana Malfitano (Associate Professor, Federal University of São Carlos) and Ana Carolina Almeida Prado (doctoral student Federal University of São Carlos) to learn about Social Occupational Therapy in Brazil with the goal of using this knowledge to inform Canadian practices and program design.
Crossroads Conference
Crossroads Interdisciplinary Health Research Conference is an annual, peer-reviewed academic conference that receives submissions from diverse, health-related disciplines nationwide. Crossroads provides a forum for interdisciplinary learning and collaboration between students and experts in health-related fields. School of OT student Ellen Petrie (Supervisors Drs. Beagan and Kiepek) was a presentation participant at the event and kindly shared some of her takeaways.
Ellen's research topic was exploring how the climate crisis will impact access to healthcare in Canada. "I think it is critical that healthcare providers reflect on how sustainability ties into their care, as a sick environment creates sick people. By considering future climate-change-linked healthcare system destabilizers, we can better prepare to meet the needs of our clients and move towards a brighter future," Ellen explains.
Ellen's inspiration for her research was deeply rooted in her work at CASCADES Canada, a federally funded organization dedicated to fostering a more sustainable healthcare system. She was particularly inspired by the clinicians and administrators who collaborate with this group and actively work towards positive change.
One of the most memorable conference moments for Ellen was the keynote speech by Dr. Mikiko Terashima. Dr. Terashima's insights into the role of Planning and Architecture in promoting a healthy population resonated deeply with Ellen. She was particularly intrigued by the speaker's exploration of the intersection of sustainability and accessibility. Dr. Terashima's discussion on how creating accessible living conditions can reduce the need for carbon-intensive hospitalization was not only enlightening but also underscored the potential for healthcare to contribute to a more sustainable future.