Lisa Klinger has been a full-time Lecturer
at Western’s School of Occupational
Therapy since 2000. Prior to that, she
worked as a clinician, both in the public
and private sectors, for more than 20
years. During her time at the School, Lisa
has been the Curriculum Chair since
2008 and has taught a variety of courses
including community practice and pro-
fessionalism; she was awarded the Occupational Therapy Stu-
dent Council Teaching Award in 2002 and again in 2014. In
2006 she received the University Student Council Disability
Advancement Award for her work in addressing issues of ac-
cessibility both within the Western University context and
more broadly within the city of London. Lisa received her un-
dergraduate education at Western, graduating from the Oc-
cupational Therapy program in 1979 with the Gold Medal for
academic achievement. In 1997, she earned her M.Sc. degree,
also from Western. Her research interests have focused pri-
marily in the area of occupational adaptation to chronic pain
and brain injury and accessibility issues for persons with dis-
abilities. Through her many years as a clinician and academic,
Lisa has been actively involved in her professional associations
and in leadership as past president of the Ontario Society of
Occupational Therapists.
With Sandra moving to Parksville British Columbia and setting
up her quilting studio, and Lisa building a new home in Lon-
don and expanding her musical career, we wish them the very
best in their future occupations.
Since none of the students or faculty originally
involved in the initiative had expertise with
FHTs, it was time to reach out to OTs who
worked in FHTs or knew others that did. Faculty
members in OS&OT contacted key community
partners and received very enthusiastic re-
sponses! Five OTs working on family health
teams (from even as far away as Queen’s FHT
in Kingston) came together with students and
faculty to create a 45 minute presentation. It
was very well received by an audience of about
50 people, many of whom were physicians. The
presenters used case vignettes to illustrate the
breadth and depth with which OTs can practice
in this setting. It is expected that this presenta-
tion will be given at other facilities, as there
have been several others that have expressed
an interest in this information being shared with
physicians involved in FHT’s associated with
other healthcare institutions in the GTA. An un-
expected outcome was that a small community
of practice of OTs working on Family Health
Teams (and who were not previously con-
nected) developed, and this group is growing.
They share evidence-based knowledge and
resources with each other.
Singapore
National Occupational Therapy Conference
October 3 - 4, 2014
London, England
Global Alliance for Musculoskeletal Health
World Conference 2014, October 12 - 13
Queensland, Austrailia
A Queensland State Conference October 23-25, 2014 (Australia)
Join Occupational Therapists from across the globe
at these upcoming events or explore their websites:
Plan a TriP!
March of Dimes Canada
Invests $1.5 million to
Advance Research in
Acquired Brain Injury
at the University of Toronto
The March of Dimes has donated $1.5
million to the Department an endowed
Early Career Professorship for Research
in Acquired Brain Injuries. The Depart-
ment is thrilled to be the recipient of this
generous gift and will work in partnership
with the March of Dimes to build re-
search to advance their programs for
community integration.
8
Western University Retirement
continued from page 4
Collaboration in Educating
Physicians
continued from page 7
