Jacqueline is a PhD candidate in the Applied
Health Sciences program at the University of Manitoba. She completed a
Bachelors degree in Occupational Therapy and received the University of
Manitoba Gold Medal in 1992. She returned to graduate studies in 1995,
receiving a Master of Science in Rehabilitation degree in 1998. In her
doctoral program, Jacqueline has received numerous awards, including
the Canadian Occupational Therapy Foundation doctoral award, the
Canadian Federation of University Women Alice E. Wilson doctoral award,
and the University of Manitoba Graduate Student Award for Innovation,
Stewardship, and Excellence.
As an occupational therapist, Jacqueline has a
heightened interest in ensuring that individuals, groups and
communities are able to participate in the occupations that they want
to engage in when they are limited in their abilities to do so due to
disability, lack of opportunity, or environments that create barriers.
Thus, in her doctoral work, Jacqueline is studying how young adults
with disabilities who use assistive technology participate in their
families, communities, and society, and is seeking to understand how
individual, physical, social, cultural, and environmental conditions
contribute to self-perceived participation for young adult assistive
technology users. In this qualitative study, she is using grounded
theory and photovoice as the methods to understand perspectives on
community barriers and facilitators in order to increase community
participation and social inclusivity. Jacqueline is actively involved
in various national and local professional organizations, receiving a
Canadian Association of Occupational Therapists Award of Merit in 2008
for her contributions. Within her community, she has demonstrated
leadership in activities that reflect her interest in promoting
inclusivity and community participation, working to improve community
access for children, adults and seniors with disabilities; for example
she is leading the development of a universally designed playground in
her community to promote inclusion of all children. Her husband and two
young sons provide her with the inspiration for ensuring communities
are inclusive of everyone.
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