Past Highlights

      • Congratulations Dolapo! Dolapo successfully defended her Master’s thesis titled “What’s the ideal scooter? Stakeholder’s perspectives on enhancing the usability and safety of motorized mobility scooters”.
      • Congratulations to the following trainees on receiving a CIHR Travel Award – Institute Community Support: Delphine Labbe, Bita Imam, Emma Smith, & Elham Esfandiari
      • The Rehab Research Open House was featured on the UBC Faculty of Medicine website. Click here to see the news item!
      • Congratulations to Dr. Krista Best for receiving the best postdoc presentation at REPAR/ INTER Journée Scientifique et Assemblée annuelle!
      • Congratulations to Dr. Krista Best who has received the Craig H Neilsen Psychosocial Research (PSR) Postdoctoral Fellowship.
      • Dr. Miller’s MOvIT study featured on VCHRI!
      • Congratulations to the following for receiving these prestigious awards: • Delphine Labbe – FRQS Postdoctoral Training Award • Paula Rushton – FRQS Junior 1 Research Scholar • Claudine Auger – FRQS Junior 1 Research Scholar
      • Success in the RESNA Student Design Competition for UBC’s Abilee Kellett and Justin TurnerAbilee Kellet and Justin Turner, MOT2 students, have been selected as Finalists in the RESNA Student Design Competition for their design “ChairStairs”, a wheelchair mounted folding staircase which allows independent chair to floor transfers for manual wheelchair users.The RESNA Student Design Competition is a multidisciplinary showcase of innovative assistive technology designs created by students in engineering, design, and health related fields at the undergraduate and master level. Each year, six student teams are named Finalists, and receive an all expenses-paid trip to the RESNA Conference to present their designs to a panel of judges and compete for a top 3 spot, and the opportunity for an internship at the Centre for Translation of Rehabilitation Engineering Advances and Technology (TREAT). Teams also present at the Developers’ Showcase, a networking event where they can gain feedback on their design and seek interest from relevant industry partners.Funding for travel expenses and registration is sponsored by the National Science Foundation (USA), while awards are sponsored by the ARM University program, and TREAT. Abilee and Justin’s design was selected from over 75 eligible entries in the 2017 competition.Congratulations!
      • Delphine Labbé Receives Travel Grant to attend the IAGG 2017 World Congress
      • Congratulations to Postdoctoral Fellow, Delphine Labbé, on receiving a travel grant from the CAG Legacy Fund to attend the IAGG 2017 World Congress in San Francisco, California.She will be presenting her paper:

        “A longitudinal perspective on power mobility use by older users.”

      • Dr. Debbie Field, UBC’s newest Doctor of Philosophy in Rehabilitation SciencesDr. Debbie Field is the University of British Columbia’s newest Doctor of Philosophy in Rehabilitation Sciences. On November 25, Debbie celebrated her achievement at the UBC convocation ceremony with PhD supervisor, Dr. Bill Miller and UBC president, Dr. Santo Ono. A big congratulations to Dr. Debbie Field!
      • Congratulations to PhD Candidate, Emma Smith, on winning the “Most Moving Demo” at the Drinks & Demos event at this year’s AGEWELL annual conference in Montreal.Emma’s presentation:
        CoPILOT Remote Tele-Operator for Powered Mobility Training

        “Learning to drive a powered wheelchair can be difficult for older adults with cognitive or memory impairments. In consultation with clinicians and wheelchair users, we developed a remote tele-operation device (CoPILOT) and training program to address the needs of this population. CoPILOT allows a trainer to share control of the wheelchair with the learner to provide demonstration, error-correction, and graded learning activities. This allows the training to be individualized to the person’s learning needs, promoting safety, and potentially reducing anxiety associated with learning. In this session, we will provide a demonstration of the CoPILOT remote control on a powered wheelchair.”

        img_2374                 img_2380               img_2368

 

      • UBC Occupational Therapy students Marina Khenson and Chelsey Tyler presented their project on sexual rehabilitation for those living with spinal cord injuries at the 2016 Capstone Conference.The focus of their study?:

        “We aimed to obtain feedback from people who had been using the 2009 edition of the PleasureAble manual

        as a sexual rehabilitation tool.  We wanted to gather ideas on what would make it more useful for people with

        spinal cord injuries, their partners, and clinicians, and use that feedback to inform a future edition.”

        – ‘Let’s talk about sexual rehabilitation’ (Published Aug. 23, 2016)

        Project Supervisors: Leslie Houle, Dr. Stacy Elliott, and Dr. Bill Miller

        To read the full article, please click here.

      • PhD Candidate Emma Smith awarded the Friedman Scholar AwardCongratulations to Emma Smith on receiving the Friedman Scholar Award for her proposed project:

        EquiPP and EquiFrame: Application of novel tools for health policy analysis for assitive technology provision in less resourced settings.

        “The Constance Livingstone-Friedman and Sydney Friedman Foundation Scholarship in Health Sciences is intended to extend the recipients global reach as a University of British Columbia student and provide an opportunity to learn from global experts in their respective fields.”

      • Delphine Labbé Receives Postdoctoral Training Award:
        Congratulations to Delphine Labbé on receiving the postdoctoral training award from the Fonds de recherche du Québec – Santé (FRQS) for her project:

        “Améliorer les habiletés en fauteuil roulant de proches aidants d’utilisateurs de fauteuils roulants motorisés: une étude de faisabilité”

        This award aims to promote and provide financial support for postdoctoral researchers in all areas of health research. Congratulations on your success!

      • Bill Miller, Professor, Department of Occupational Science & Occupational Therapy, has been awarded the 2016 Barbara Sexton Lectureship from the University of Western Ontario’s School of Occupational Therapy. The award recognizes innovation and excellence in occupational therapy teaching and fosters professional enrichment.Read more here – http://www.med.ubc.ca/bill-miller-awarded-the-2016-barbara-sexton-lectureship/?login.
      • VCHRI Team Grant awarded for the Hip Health Information Project (HHIP):
        As Canadians age, the number of hip replacements are going up by about 20% every 5 years. In 2014-15, 1,600 of these surgeries were performed within Vancouver Coastal Health. Education before hip surgery helps to improve patient experiences and outcomes after surgery and reduce healthcare costs. Education that aims to improve day-to-day function by giving information and advice on exercise is known as prehabilitation (prehab). The information provided during prehab and the way it is given (e.g., written, verbal) varies, and rarely does this education consider patients’ needs in addition to best practice evidence to help them prepare for and recover from surgery.In our study, we will explore eHealth as a way to provide prehab education. eHealth, or health education provided over the internet, allows patients and family members to view prehab information at a time, pace and place that is best for them. We will ask patients and family members to participate in group discussions on the content and best method to provide education to prepare for hip surgery. This will help us create an eHealth prehab tool known as the Hip Health Information Project (HHIP). HHIP will provide prehab education online using videos, written information, quizzes and discussion boards. We will then assess the usability of HHIP with patients who are preparing for and who have already had surgery to make sure it meets their needs and is simple to use. This feedback will be used to make changes to HHIP as needed. The findings of this study will help us design a future study to compare HHIP to more traditional in-person prehab education.
      • Minnie Teng admitted into the MOT Program at UBC:
        Congratulations to former work learn student Minnie Teng on her recent acceptance into the Master of Occupational Therapy Program at UBC. The Rehab Research Lab wishes you all the best for your bright future.
      • PhD Student Emma Smith Awarded CIHR Fellowship!:
        PhD student Emma Smith was recently awarded the CIHR Fellowship for her project CoPilot: Collaborative Powered mobility Innovative Learning Opportunity. Congratulations to Emma for her cutting-edge research!
      • Dr. Pooja Viswanathan awarded AGE-WELL postdoctoral award in Technology and Aging!:
        Pooja has received an AGE-WELL postdoctoral award in Technology and Aging for her project, “Modular Intelligent Wheelchair System for Older Adults”. The objective of her project is to offer safe and independent mobility to older adults with cognitive impairment, who are often excluded from powered wheelchair use due to safety concerns. Supported by the AGE-WELL award, and an Entrepreneur Fellowship from the Ontario Brain Institute, Pooja will further refine her prototype, with the goal of commercializing the system within the next year. You can learn more about her work on her research website.
      • Linh Huynh, a former student of Dr. Miller, reflects on her experience as a recent MOT graduate in the OT Lens Fall 2015(page 3).
      • A big shout out to the “student extraordinaire”, Bita Imam. She has been featured in the UBC annual report!
      • Learn more about Debbie Field’s career as an Occupational Therapist, and what led her to research!
      • Emma Smith’s work with the Wheelchair and Seating Team with Team Canada Healing Hands – a not-for-profit organization that provides rehabilitative education, training, and care to areas of need around the world – has been highlighted in the Faculty of Medicine’s website. Click here to read more!
      • In October 2015, Emma Smith presented on the topic “Funding Wheeled Mobility in the Later Years: Where You Live Matters”. This project – a scoping review of national and provincial funding programs and models in Canada – will explore the variety of funding available, including provincial differences, and will contribute to an understanding of the challenges faced by older adults in obtaining WMDs. This project will also begin to explore the impact of differences in WMD funding in Canada.
      • Congratulations to Emma Smith who has been awarded the Doctoral Award from the Alzheimer Society of Canada’s Alzheimer Society Research Program. Doctoral Awards provide an opportunity for promising individuals, pursuing a PhD, to begin the process of becoming future independent investigators in the field of Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias. The Quality of Life stream (which her award is from) is concerned with all aspects of dementia care and support, the Alzheimer Society has a particular interest in the means to improve the way care is experienced by people with dementia living in long term care homes, and their families. This award is for the project CoPILOT: Collaborative Power mobility Innovative Learning Opportunity.
      • Dr. Krista Best successfully defended her doctoral dissertation on October 22nd, and just graduated from the University of British Columbia! She will continue research as a Postdoctoral Fellow at Laval University with Dr. Francois Routhier.
      • Congratulations to Brodie Sakakibara for receiving the 2014 Canadian Association on Gerontology Divisional Post-doctoral Poster Award for the second year in a row! The poster titled “The prevalence of low mobility and self-management self-efficacy in manual wheelchair-users aged 50 and older” presented research he conducted with Dr. Bill Miller. His research investigated the direct effect of self-efficacy with wheelchair use on life-space mobility, and the mediating effect of wheelchair skills.!
      • Bita Imam, PhD candidate in Rehabilitation Sciences, has received 4 prestigious doctoral research awards! Bita has been awarded the Vanier scholarship, the CIHR Doctoral Research Award (ranked 2nd), the inaugural Anne Martin Mathews CIHR-IA Doctoral Recognition Prize in Research on Aging, and the UBC Killam Doctoral Scholarship. Supervised by Dr. Bill Miller of OS&OT, Bita’s research evaluates different Wii gaming programs to improve walking function in older amputee adults. By using the Wii console, this research examines a rehabilitation tool that is not only practical and cost-effective, but also motivating, engaging, and well-received by clients. Furthermore, it has great potential to reduce risk of prosthesis abandonment, falling and fear of falling, and increase participation in physical and social activities for this population of amputees. The department is tremendously proud of Bita’s recognition and success and extends its congratulations to her and Bill Miller. Great work!
      • Congratulations to Dr. Kathleen Martin Ginis of McMaster University and her pan-Canadian team for their successful 2013 Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council  Partnership Grant titled, “Enhancing community participation in Canadians with physical disabilities: development, implementation and evaluation of a partnered strategy.”  The project has been awarded $2,643,997 and was one of only fourteen chosen by SSHRC in the Canada-wide Partnership Grants competition.UBC co-applicant Dr. William Miller, Associate Dean of Health Professions and Professor in the Department of Occupational Science and Occupational Therapy, will lead the Mobility Team, one of three main research domains encompassed in the grant.
      • To access information about the Mobility Outcome Tools, please click here.
      • Please mark your calendars for the fifth annual G.F. Strong Rehab Centre Rehabilitation Research Day on April 16th, 2014!  To view featured posters and presentations, click here!
    • Check this new article written by Brian Kladko, Communications Manager of the Faculty of Medicine. We had him in for some: Basic (wheelchair) training!