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QUEEN’S OT PROGRAM HOSTS COMMUNITY
DEVELOPMENT FORUM
O
n Thursday, April 16, 2015, the Queen’s Oc-
cupational Therapy Program was pleased to
host a Community Development Forum to
celebrate the work of occupational therapy (OT) students
and local community partners. Community Development
Fieldwork Coordinator Megan Edgelow, OT Program
members, and the OT Class of 2015 welcomed more than
30 community members to the showcase of student work
in the local region.
Last held in 2011, this event was re-introduced to high-
light the work of OT students in their Community Devel-
opment course (OT861) and Community Development
fieldwork placement (OT862). In their final semester at
Queen’s, students spend time in the classroom learning
the theory and practice of community development, and
take part in community-based fieldwork to apply their
newly learned skills in a real-world setting.
The goal of the fieldwork placement is to provide the
opportunity for students to explore the process of working
with communities to enable occupation and to create in-
clusive communities and environments.
Community organizations in the Kingston and Napa-
nee area host placements for the students, who each com-
plete 185 hours of fieldwork at their host site. There are
many long-standing partnerships in the area, and this year
we were pleased to welcome new partnerships with the
Kingston Victorian Order of Nurses and the Kingston Mil-
itary Family Resource Centre.
Student projects this year included nurturing new re-
lationships between community organizations, competing
needs assessments, engaging service recipients, complet-
ing service and program development, and creating prod-
ucts and tools for use by community organizations.
To celebrate the work of the students and their partner
organizations, the April 16 Forum allowed students to pres-
ent their work to the community, as well as community
members to attend and network with the students and
other community organizations.
It was a resounding success, with over 80 OT students
showcasing their contributions, and 10 university members
attending to welcome more than 30 community partners.
We look forward to continuing these productive partner-
ships and celebrations in 2016!
*A note of thanks goes to Susanne Murphy for taking
photographs at the event.
Adam Broad (C) and Ashleigh Blinkhorn (L)
share their poster with fellow OT student
Pablo Chang (R).
OT students (L to R) Emma Haley, Lyn Heinemann,
Natalie Lussin and Christie Walker share a laugh
during the Community Development Forum.