Why did you choose OT as a career?
I had a teacher suggest occupational therapy to me when I
was a high school student and when I researched it I thought it sounded
interesting in how it combined creative problem solving with health care.
However, it wasn’t until I started teaching adaptive skiing, that I realized I
wanted to make a career out of helping people who needed extra assistance to reach their goals.
Tell us about your research. What led you to this topic
of study?
My research was titled “Honouring Our Elders: First
Nation’s Elders Club Impact on Wellness” and it examined the community impact
of an Elder’s Club I had initiated and facilitated over the past eighteen
months. The goal of the Elder’s Club was to engage with the Elders on a regular
basis and address the health needs they identified were important to them and
their community. Sessions were facilitated to address their concerns or curiosity
using local resources and community members. Sessions provided workshops on issues
such as: local traditional medicines uses for chronic illness, fall prevention,
chair yoga, preparation of traditional foods, chronic illness management,
community safety, elder abuse, processing grief and loss, traditional language,
traditional protocol and mindfulness. One of the most successful sessions
involved the Elders’ expressing a concern regarding accessing doctor care in
the local community. Many issues contributed to this concern. A long standing history
of trauma and exploitation from health care professionals resulting in distrust
and power imbalances, concerns regarding confidentiality in a small community, barriers
involving transportation, long wait times, the feeling of intimidation in an
institutionalized hospital setting, and discomfort at the fast pace of a
doctor’s appointment. After hearing the Elders’ concerns, I arranged to have a
local doctor attend a session to build a relationship and trust with the
elders, while spending time to answer health related questions. The Elders who
were uncomfortable with asking their questions were given the opportunity to
anonymously write down their health questions for the doctor to address. The
session resulted in the doctor having access to community members who may
require future care, a step towards the community building trust with health
care professionals, the growth of an interdisciplinary health team and most
importantly, the Elders’ concerns regarding health care delivery being
acknowledged and addressed. My qualitative research examined the impact the
club had on community social determinants of health and personal wellbeing and
empowerment of the Elders who participated.
What is your favourite thing about CAOT-BC?
Living in a remote area of BC, with limited resources and
opportunities for professional development, I really appreciate how CAOT-BC
connects me to our profession. I appreciate
the association keeping me updated on current events affecting occupational therapy at the provincial level and the opportunities CAOT-BC provides in
supporting members to reach professional development goals. I am very grateful to
receive the 2017 CAOT-BC Research and Education Grant which supported me in
presenting my research at the 2017 CAOT Conference in Charlottetown, PEI.
Where have you worked over your career? Where do you work
now?
I have been incredibility lucky in my occupational therapy career, as it has provided many opportunities to travel Canada and
the world while participating in many different service delivery models. I
started my career working in Paediatrics in Northern BC, immediately after
graduating in 2011. The relationships I built in the communities allowed me to
contract my services to local First Nation communities in an attempt to provide
barrier free health care. In 2015 I transitioned into working as a private
contractor in the communities full time. The service delivery model has proved
to be so effective, that I have recently started a rehabilitation therapy
company called Northern Therapy Services, with an incredible forward-thinking
Physiotherapist who shares my values of providing accessible, culturally
sensitive and barrier free services. We provide occupational therapy and physiotherapy to Northern First Nation communities and our mandate is to advocate and provide
community based services for clients to receive frequent and reliable care. I
also provide short-term contracts in Nunavut. For example, I am currently
writing this interview while travelling for five weeks to five different
isolated communities in the Arctic to provide School Aged Therapy services. My occupational therapy career has also provided many international opportunities.
I had the amazing experience of being a preceptor to three motivated University
of British Columbia students in rural India providing Community Based
Rehabilitation and have recently been accepted to present my research at the
World Federation of Occupational Therapists Conference in May 2018 in South
Africa.
What might someone be surprised to know about you?
One of the things I am most proud of is growing up as a
4-H kid on a donkey and mule farm in Central Alberta. I believe growing up in a
rural setting in 4-H taught me the importance of community, teamwork, responsibility
and the value of public speaking and advocating for others. I still love
donkeys to this day and feel everyone could learn something from their gentle
kindness!
What do you think will change/shape practice over the
next five years?
I am a big believer that greater importance will be
placed on First Nation and Inuit health over the next five years – especially
the importance of preventative care and the empowerment of under-served communities. I am an advocate for greater health literacy and clients being encouraged
to make self determined choices regarding their personal and community health. I
also believe that we will start to see a shift with health care being delivered
in a culturally sensitive way that not only respects but works in tandem with
traditional healing practices. Our current health care system is letting down
Canada’s Indigenous populations and it is our responsibility to empower
communities and acknowledge and advocate to correct the power imbalances that
permeate the current system.
As an educator, it is great fun and awesomely inspiring to catch up with alumni. Incredibly impressed by your work Caitlyn!
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