OT Conversations that Matter: The Podcast / Conversations qui comptent en ergo : Le balado

For episode 29 of OT Conversations that Matter: The Podcast, host Justine Jecker explores the vital but often overlooked area of practice supporting eating disorders and disordered eating. Joined by occupational therapists Elyse Trudell and Sossy Sahakian , this episode offers a glimpse into how occupational therapy professionals assess, intervene, and provide support to individuals on their path...

In Episode 28 of OT Conversations that Matter: The Podcast. Host, Justine Jecker dives into the second part of our series on occupational therapy within Primary Care teams with OTs Rachel Degan from Saskatchewan and Lisa Diamond-Burchuk from Manitoba. Our aim with this series is to connect OTs from diverse regions, shedding light on how occupational therapy is shaping Primary Care nationwide. Our...

In Episode 27 of OT Conversations that Matter: The Podcast, host Justine Jecker initiates a two-part series exploring the role of OTs within Canadian Primary Care teams. This discussion stems from insights gained at the 2023 CAOT Conference in Saskatoon, highlighting OTs' significance amid Canada's Health Human Resource crisis and the call for an expanded role in primary care in a paper en...

For episode 26 of OT Conversations that Matter: The Podcast, host Justine Jecker explores the significance of what we eat, how we eat, whom we eat with, and where our food comes from with occupational therapist Ryan Osal and local food activist Justin Cantafio . Together they discuss the role of food as medicine and the diverse occupations involved, from seed to table, in settings like farmers&#39...

For episode 25 host Justine Jecker is joined by occupational therapists (OTs) Dianna Fong-Lee and Heather Gillespie. Their discussion centers around Occupational Therapist Assistants (OTAs) and their vital roles within the profession. This episode continues the exploration initiated in the first OTA-focused podcast, episode 21, shedding light on the variety of ways OTAs are trained in Canada. Dian...

On Episode 24 of OT Conversations that Matter: The Podcast, host Justine Jecker delves into the topic of sustainable occupational therapy practice with guest occupational therapists Janet Craik and Ben Mortenson. This episode builds upon the insightful discussions from Episode 22, which considered the role of occupational therapy in the context of planetary health and climate change. The conversat...

For episode 23 of OT Conversations that Matter: The Podcast, host Justine Jecker is joined by occupational therapist Jennifer Berg-Carnegie and Carol MacDonald. Together, they delve into the topic of 'traditional' versus 'non-traditional' occupational therapy and innovative practices. With their extensive backgrounds as entrepreneurs spanning several decades, Jennifer and Carol sha...

In this episode, host Justine Jecker welcomes occupational therapist, Giovanna Boniface, and family physician, Myles Sergeant, to discuss the importance of planetary health and sustainable action in the face of climate change. As climate change impacts every person on the planet and their daily occupations, it is crucial for clinicians to understand the opportunities for engagement and action. Wit...

For episode 21 of OT Conversations that Matter: The Podcast, host Justine Jecker is joined by occupational therapist assistant (OTA) Debra Cooper, and occupational therapist (OT) Teresa Avvampato. Together they explore intra-professional collaboration and its links to building capacity in occupational therapy service delivery. They share with us their thoughts on strengthening OT & OTA relatio...

For our March episode host Justine Jecker, is joined by guest OTs Shiyen Shu and Gillian Barrie. Through discussing questions such as  "could OTs have more of an impact around the world if they knew how to be better leaders?"  and  "how can we support leadership development for OT graduates, clinicians, and OT leaders?"  they explore what it means to grow leadership in occupati...

For episode 19 of OT Conversations that Matter: the Podcast, host Justine Jecker is joined by special guest Phillip Wendt, OT & President of CAOT. Together they explore the motivators to becoming an occupational therapy practitioner and the links that unify OTs everywhere. Phillip shares with us how his journey to becoming President of CAOT and his experience work...

For episode 18 of OT Conversations that Matter: the Podcast, host Justine Jecker is joined by guest OT Monique Lizon to discuss reflective and reflexive practice. Monique, is completing a Master of Public Health with a Specialization in Indigenous and Northern Health at Lakehead University and is currently a Policy Analyst at CAOT; she shares with us her reflections and some lessons learned throug...

For episode 17, host Justine Jecker is joined by guest OTs, Naomi Hazlett and Melissa Croskery. Together they discuss neurodiversity's origin, its evolution since 2020, and the understanding and relationship OTs have with neurodiversity and neurodivergent clients. 

In this episode, host Justine Jecker is joined by occupational therapist Julie Entwistle to discuss leadership. While leadership is not a new topic in health care, or in occupational therapy, its recent prominence in national discourse led us to engage in discussions on specific styles of leadership and how those might be reflected in day-to-day practice. Julie is a fervent leader who has donned m...

For OT Month, OT Conversations That Matter: the Podcast is releasing a special extended episode focusing on the new textbook  Promoting Occupational Participation: Collaborative Relationship-Focused Occupational Therapy . For episode 15, our host Justine Jecker is joined by OTs Gayle Restall and Mary Egan, editors of the new textbook representing over three dozen authors. Through answering qu...

Pour l'épisode 14 partie 2 de OT Conversations that Matter : Le podcast, Émilie Montour, Responsable de projet à l'ACE, anime notre tout premier épisode en français sur le thème de l'identité professionnelle. Émilie est en compagnie de Yasmine Frikha, une ergothérapeute canadienne d'origine française qui fait actuellement son doctorat sur le thème de l'identité professionnelle à l'Université Laval...

For episode 14 of OT Conversations that Matter: The Podcast, our host Justine Jecker is joined by Yasmine Frikha, a Canadian OT originally from France who is currently doing her PhD work on the topic of professional identity at the University of Laval in Québec. Yasmine was motivated to dive deeper into the concept of professional identity when she recognized, through her clinical experience in Qu...

In this episode, Emmanuelle Pichard-Jolicoeur, OT & CAOT Global Health Practice Network Co-Chair, and Deb Cameron, OT and founder of the International Centre for Disability and Rehabilitation at the University of Toronto, join us to talk about the Global Health Practice Network, what it means to be a global health OT and how being a Global OT ties into the concepts of Justice, Equity, Diversit...

Dr. Shirley Ha, neuro-rehabilitative optometrist (OD) and Fellow of the College of Optometrists in Vision Development, and Pamela Chinchilla, vision therapist and former practising optometrist in Colombia, join us to talk about OTs working alongside vision specialists. We explore different ways OTs and ODs could successfully build interprofessional relationships to better support and inform e...

Emilie Montour, CAOT Policy Analyst, and Holly Reid, OT and UBC PHD student, join us to talk about advocacy within the OT profession. We look at where advocacy is included in the new Competencies for Occupational Therapists in Canada (2021) and what these advocacy competency indicators may look like in practice. We also explore the relationship between advocacy, OTs and their clients, and social,...

Joy-Ann Perry and Amie Tsang join us to talk about socially accountable mentorship and their work with Occupational Therapists for Equity Advancement (OTEA). OTEA is an independent network of Occupational Therapists from historically marginalized groups, founded by Black, Indigenous and 2SLGBTQ+ occupational therapists that collectively support the enhancement of inclusion, diversity, equity and a...

Today we are joined by Anna Braunizer and Tanelle Bolt. We will be talking about branching away from the medical model and toward thinking about occupations beyond basic self-care. As the pandemic continues to disrupt our way of life, we can reflect on how COVID has changed individual and societal level awareness of how spaces are designed and used. 

This episode features occupational therapists Jennifer Bertoni and Justine Jecker. To close the 2021 year, we will be talking about culturally appropriate interprofessional health care services for First Nations and Indigenous populations. Both of our speakers today have worked with First Nations populations in northwestern Ontario with communities identifying as Anishinabek peoples. They both hav...

In this episode we return to the discussion surrounding social accountability to explore common downfalls and the ever-growing opportunities for change. This is the first episode with a guest who isn’t an occupational therapist but who has been strongly tied to the world of occupational therapy over the past few years. Thank you to Samira Omar for joining us! 

This episode focuses on social accountability with considerations of how this contrasts social activism. Holly and Justine engage in a conversation about what it means to be accountable and who we are accountable to, what constitutes activism, and how disrupting and professionalism can co-exist.