Dr. Ben Mortenson Research Lab
4255 Laurel St V5Z 2G9 Vancouver, BC, Canada

Call for abstracts! The first World Occupational Science Conference, due to be held in Vancouver (August 18-20, 2022), is accepting abstracts for just 2 more days!

MAP (Mobility, Access, and Participation) aims to create partnerships and collaborations to improve mobility among people with disabilities and to create barrie...r-free communities. This interdisciplinary, cross-sectoral and tri-provincial partnership include university researchers, community/business partners, governmental partners and other collaborators from the provinces of Quebec, Ontario and British-Columbia. This seven-year partnership, financed by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research funds, wants to support organizations and municipalities to develop, evaluate and implement evidence-based practices to contribute to the development of barrier-free communities in increasing mobility, access and participation for people with disabilities. This collaborative Partnership will provide evidence to support the implementation of novel interventions that can rapidly and effectively be integrated into daily practices, will offer training and development opportunities for students and community partners and, ultimately, will support the development of barrier-free and accessible communities for people with mobility issues. ________________________________________________________ MAP (Mobilité, Accès et Participation) vise à créer des partenariats et des collaborations pour améliorer la mobilité des personnes handicapées en misant sur des communautés sans obstacles. Ce partenariat interdisciplinaire, intersectoriel et triprovincial comprend des chercheurs universitaires, des partenaires communautaires, des partenaires gouvernementaux et d'autres collaborateurs des provinces de Québec, de l'Ontario et de la Colombie-Britannique. Ce partenariat de sept ans, financé par les fonds de recherche en Sciences humaines, veut aider les organisations et les municipalités à développer, évaluer et mettre en œuvre des pratiques afin de contribuer au développement de communautés sans obstacles en augmentant la mobilité, l'accès et la participation pour les personnes présentant des limitations. Ce partenariat de collaboration fournira des outils pour soutenir la mise en œuvre d'interventions novatrices qui peuvent être intégrées rapidement et efficacement dans les pratiques quotidiennes, offrira des possibilités de formation et de développement aux étudiants et aux partenaires communautaires et, finalement, soutiendra le développement de communautés accessibles et sans obstacles pour les personnes à mobilité réduite.

Check out our work over on the MAP Project page!

Congratulations to Ben's students who represented UBC Occupational Science & Occupational Therapy at the Canadian Association of Occupational Therapists #CAOT2021 virtual conference this week! On Monday, Carmen Bennison and Katie Bieber presented on Experiences of Adults with Stroke Attending a Peer-Led Support Group. Tuesday, Murveena Jeawon, Bethany Hase, and Susanna Miller presented about the need for better support and recognition for ambulatory people with incomplete spi...nal cord injury. The last day of the conference, Wednesday, featured Ethan Simpson among the researchers' presentation on A Mixed-Methods Study Exploring COVID-19 Related Experiences and Changes in Outcomes Over Time Among Individuals With Spinal Cord Injury. Compelling presentations on innovative research by excellent students.

Thank you to Canada Post for delivering and ceremoniously presenting Dr. Ben's CAOT- BC Award for Innovative Practice 2021! Photo description: Dr. Ben standing in front of a flowing cherry blossom tree, holding his transparent glass flame-shaped CAOT award with his name, award title, and year engraved on it.

Call for built environment accessibility experts! The Government of Canada is seeking volunteers for a technical committee for a model standard for the built environment - accessibility. See image [Image ID in comments] and apply here if interested: https://accessible.canada.ca//technical-committee-built-en

New publication featuring our program's recent doctoral graduate, Dr. Mike Prescott, as lead author, available for free reading here: https://authors.elsevier.com/c/1c8g47tR-3CWJV

Researchers from University of British Columbia are looking for volunteers to participate in the Intersectional analysis of assistive technology study lead by Dr. Ben Mortenson, principal investigator at the University of British Columbia, examining the experiences of people who have a mobility or physical disability obtaining and using assistive technologies (AT). If you are 19 years of age or older and currently living in Metro Vancouver, we welcome you to contact us to learn more about our intersectional analysis of AT study. To keep your privacy and confidentiality, please do not comment on this post. Instead, send a private message, contact the study coordinator at 604-838-1001, or send an email to [email protected] to learn more about our exciting study!

Researchers from University of British Columbia are looking for volunteers to participate in the SCI and Quality of Life study led by Dr. Habib Chaudhury, principal investigator at Simon Fraser University and Dr. Ben Mortenson, co-investigator at the University of British Columbia examining the experiences of coping and managing health and function among people with spinal cord injury. If you are 18 years of age or older, living with a SCI and in a community setting for at least 2 years, we welcome you to contact us to learn more about our SCI and Quality of Life study. To keep your privacy and confidentiality, please do not comment on this post. Instead, send a private message, contact the study coordinator at 604-737-6491, or send an email to [email protected] to learn more about our exciting study!

New article by Dr. Ben Mortenson and colleagues, "Therapists' experience of training and implementing an exoskeleton in a rehabilitation centre," is now available online! First 50 clicks are free and accessible at https://www.tandfonline.com/epri/C3XYICUTVFXP6SCSTAX3/full

Thank you Triumph Foundation for promoting our study!

Call for built environment accessibility experts! The Government of Canada is seeking volunteers for a technical committee for a model standard for the built environment - accessibility. See image [Image ID in comments] and apply here if interested: https://accessible.canada.ca//technical-committee-built-en

Congratulations to Dr. Ben Mortenson for receiving the 2021 CAOT Award for Innovative Practice at the Canadian Association of Occupational Therapists AGM 2021! Written video transcription: "Ben has demonstrated exceptional leadership and innovation through his research with assistive technology or AT users, and informal and formal caregivers. His research has important policy and practice implications regarding AT provision through homecare, and has informed a network of centers of excellence AGEWELL projects, that sought to identify and develop new technology to help informal caregivers.

Recruitment for our Mobile App study has finally come to a close! Sending a huge thank you to ICORD, Spinal Cord Injury BC, and NorCal SCI for being instrumental to our recruitment efforts!

New publication featuring our program's recent doctoral graduate, Dr. Mike Prescott, as lead author, available for free reading here: https://authors.elsevier.com/c/1c8g47tR-3CWJV

Researchers from University of British Columbia are looking for volunteers to participate in the Intersectional analysis of assistive technology study lead by Dr. Ben Mortenson, principal investigator at the University of British Columbia, examining the experiences of people who have a mobility or physical disability obtaining and using assistive technologies (AT). If you are 19 years of age or older and currently living in Metro Vancouver, we welcome you to contact us to learn more about our intersectional analysis of AT study. To keep your privacy and confidentiality, please do not comment on this post. Instead, send a private message, contact the study coordinator at 604-838-1001, or send an email to [email protected] to learn more about our exciting study!