19th Kelly Bang Lectureship Video
Dalhousie's School of Occupational Therapy recently hosted "Doing Our Best: Individual and Collective Responses to Challenging Times" with Kelly Bang lecturer Dr. Gail Whiteford.
This lecture discuss a national project undertaken in Australia which focussed on how individuals, families and communities responded [occupationally] to COVID, wildfires, floods and droughts. The project called for, then reviewed and curated stories about these challenging times and reflects the voices of everyday Australians - Aboriginal Elders, young children, members of the GBTIQ community, people with disability and people living in rural and remote locations. These diverse stories highlight the [occupational] responses and the agency enacted by people in a range of contexts in tough times. The stories are compelling – in turn frightening, funny, inspiring and heart-warming and are a rich vein of “ways of knowing” that contain many elements that we can learn from going forward. There is an important story about the relationship of occupational science and occupational therapy that underpins the success of project. This relationship and its potential to contribute to broader social issues will also be explored in the lecture.
Dr. Whiteford has been an active contributor to occupational therapy and occupational science for three decades. She has served in clinical, managerial, academic and consulting roles including for the Department of Foreign Affairs in Australia. Her contribution to the profession has been recognised through awards from international bodies including the Canadian Association of Occupational Therapists and Occupational Therapy Australia and her giving keynote addresses in 11 countries. She was made an inaugural Fellow of the Occupational Therapy Research Academy in 2017 and has 4 books and numerous referred publications. Professionally, Gail has held a number of senior academic, executive and conjoint appointments in Australia, New Zealand and Canada and served as Australia’s first Pro Vice Chancellor of Social Inclusion. She was the Strategic Professor and Conjoint Chair of Allied Health and Community Wellbeing and was appointed by the Minister of Health to a regional health district board with oversight of 7 hospitals and 12 community centres. She currently leads an international team of the World Federation of Occupational Therapists on the Occupational Narratives Data Base project.
Kelly Bang was a nationally known occupational therapist, lecturer, writer, artist, and counselor for survivors of child and sexual abuse. The Kelly Bang Memorial Lecture was established by her family to honour those whose research, practice, teaching, and advocacy advance opportunities for women and other marginalized adults within their communities.