Community-based Rehabilitation Workers: Canadian Examples of Building Capacity in Indigenous Communities

Topic: Community-based Rehabilitation Workers: Canadian Examples of Building Capacity in Indigenous Communities

Speakers: Robin Roots, Tracy Dignum, Denise Taylor, Leah Dolgoy

Session Description: This pan-national panel will share their insights into community-based rehabilitation and experiences of local engagement and education initiatives in rural and remote Indigenous communities aimed at increasing access to rehabilitation services. This course will inspire physiotherapists to consider how they can contribute to delivering more culturally safe and accessible rehabilitation services. 

Speaker Bio:  

Robin Roots is a Senior Instructor in the Department of Physical Therapy at the University of British Columbia and Coordinator of Clinical Education for the Northern and Rural Cohort. She lives in Prince George. In addition to teaching in the MPT program, she provides leadership in developing education and service delivery models that increase access to rehabilitation services for residents of northern, rural, and remote communities. Her research interests are in the areas of distributed health profession education, inter-professional education, and rural practice. 

Tracy Dignum has been a practicing physiotherapist since graduating from Queen's University in 1991. Tracy has coordinated and taught in the Rehabilitation Assistant Diploma program at Capilano University since 2004. She completed a Master of Education from Memorial University in 2011 and a Master of Science from UBC in 2017. Tracy and Robin partnered with Carrier Sekani Family services to deliver the pilot program Rehabilitation Therapy Support Skills in 2018 to enhance rural rehabilitation service delivery. 

Denise Taylor is the Manager of the North West Regional Rehabilitative Care Program and Physiotherapy Professional Practice Leader in Thunder Bay. She has worked in neurological rehabilitation for 26 years. She has a passion for system integration and is a strong advocate for clinicians and clients in the north, access to rehabilitation for Indigenous populations, and breaking down geographical barriers with the use of technology.  Esmé French graduated from the McMaster University physiotherapy programme in 2002 and has been the Regional Stroke Rehabilitation Specialist with the Northwestern Ontario Regional Stroke Network in Thunder Bay, ON for the past 13 years. Her current professional interests include enhancing access to rehabilitation in rural and remote communities, community-based exercise for people living with stroke, supporting best practices and the use of telemedicine application in stroke rehabilitation, as well as facilitating smooth transitions through the stroke rehabilitation continuum of care. Esmé and Denise have designed and delivered a number of initiatives in northwestern Ontario Indigenous communities. 

Leah Dolgoy is the interim Directed of Professional Services and Quality Assurance - Allied Health for the Cree Board of Health and Social Services of James Bay. She is an occupational therapist by training, and her background is in community and program development. She is based in Montreal but works extensively in Eeyou Istchee, the Cree region in northern Quebec. 

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Sujet: Personnel de réadaptation communautaire: dex exemples Canadiens de renforcement des capacités dans les communautés autochtones.

Conférenciers: Robin Roots, Tracy Dignum, Denise Taylor, Leah Dolgoy 

Description de la séance: Les personnes participant à cette table ronde pannationale partageront leurs observations sur la réadaptation communautaire et sur les expériences d'engagement local et d'initiatives d'éducation dans des communautés autochtones isolés visant à des services de réadaptation. Cette séance incitera les physiothérapeutes à réfléchir à la façon dont ils pourraient contribuer à la prestation de services de réadaptation plus accessibles et plus sûrs sur le plan culturel.