ACOTUP - Newsletter - Issue 29 - 2016

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QUEEN’S OCCUPATIONAL THERAPY PROGRAM
CULTURAL EXCHANGE WITH JAPAN
Over the reading week in February three Queen’s
University occupational therapy students - Charlotte Larry,
Casandra Boushey and Gowshia Visuvalingam –were se-
lected as members of a delegation to Niigata University
of Health and Welfare (NUHW) in Japan, along with Dr.
Setareh Ghahari, Assistant Professor in the Occupational
Therapy Program. The purpose of the trip was to exchange
information about occupational therapy practice between
students and faculty of Queen’s University and NUHW.
Through visits in both directions, faculty and staff have
been able to exchange an abundance of information re-
garding education, research and practice in both coun-
tries. It was exciting for the students to embark on a
journey that opened their eyes to new perspectives about
their future profession and how it is practiced around the
world. NUHW offers a 4-year undergraduate program in
Occupational Therapy. The teamwas keen to witness and
experience the learning similarities and differences this ed-
ucational approach would have from a curricular perspec-
tive.
The group spent seven days in Niigata, a rural region
facing the Sea of Japan on the northwest coast of the
country. There were many planned events such as meet-
ings with OT faculty, visiting OT clinics in hospitals, attend-
ing OT classes, a presentation by Dr. Ghahari on the
importance of self management, lunchtime events with
traditional food prepared by students, meetings with the
NUHWpresident and a mini-symposium to further knowl-
edge about OT faculty research at NUHW.
Pre-existing knowledge and understanding of occupa-
tional therapy practice in Japan was greatly enhanced by
the opportunity to visit diverse practice settings, including
a skilled nursing facility, the Nagaoka Children’s Hospital,
an outpatient rehabilitation hospital, and a psychiatric hos-
Grants/ Funding History:
In the last 7 years, Professor Egan has received 22 grants
as a primary investigator or co-investigator. Of these, 11
have been from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research
and 5 have been from provincial and national stroke re-
search organizations. Her grants include:
PI M. Egan. (2013). Seniors, risk and successful aging; •
towards a broader understanding for rehabilitation.
Canadian Institutes of Health Research.
PI W. Gifford. (2013). A systematic review of manage- •
rial leadership for research use in nursing and allied
healthcare processions. Canadian Institutes of Health
Research.
PI D. Kessler. (2013). OPC-Stroke: A stroke-focused •
metacognitive intervention. University of Ottawa Brain
and Mind Institute.
Research Collaboration: I am very fortunate to have many
valuable research collaborations. One of the most impor-
tant has been with my UOttawa colleague, Professor
Claire-Jehanne Dubouloz. I was intrigued by the originality
of Dr Dubouloz’s research and extremely impressed with
the rigour of her work and her broad and deep understand-
ing of qualitative methods. I invited her to participate on
an on-line learning action research grant several years ago
and really enjoyed working with her. I have been lucky
enough to work with her on a number of grants and a num-
ber of student projects since. Working with her has really
helped me stretch methodologically and it’s been great fun.
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