Michael K. IwamaAssociate Professor

Department of Occupational Science and Occupational Therapy
(416) 946-8566
m.iwama@utoronto.ca

Biosketch

Dr. Michael Iwama is known internationally for his critical work on culture and its implications for knowledge, theory and practice in Occupational Therapy. He is sole author of a landmark book by Elsevier Press, on theory and culture in health titled: “The Kawa Model; Culturally Relevant Occupational Therapy”. A leading theorist in the field of occupational therapy, he has delivered over 30 keynote & plenary addresses at conferences and symposia in North America, Europe, Australia, Asia, South America and Africa. In November 2011, he will give 2 plenary lectures at the (quadrennial) 5th Asia Pacific Occupational Therapy Congress, in Chiang Mai, Thailand. In addition to his appointments as Associate Professor in the Department of Occupational Science and Occupational Therapy and the Graduate Department of Rehabilitation Sciences at University of Toronto, Dr. Iwama holds Honorary Professorships at the University of Queensland, Australia, the University of Alberta, Canada, the University of Salford, and the University of Plymouth, United Kingdom.

Selected Recent Publications

Turpin, M. & Iwama, M. 2010. (textbook). Using Occupational Therapy Models in Practice; A Fieldguide. Churchill Livingstone-Elsevier, Edinburgh, 250pp.
Iwama, M. Thomson NA., Macdonald RA. (2009). The kawa model; the power of culturally responsive occupational therapy. Disability and Rehabilitation, 31:14, 1125-1135.
Iwama, M. 2008. Kawa-(Fluss)-Modell – Uberwinden kultureller Bergrenzungen der zeitgenossischen Theori der Ergotherapie [Kawa-(River)-Model – Overcoming Cultural Limitations of Contemporary Occupational Therapy Theories]. Ergoscience. Thieme, 3(2), 107-119.
Iwama, M. 2008. Culture and occupational therapy: meeting the challenge of relevance in a global world. Occupational Therapy International. (4)4; p183-187.
Iwama, M. 2007 Embracing diversity: Explaining the cultural dimensions of our occupational therapeutic selves. New Zealand Journal of Occupational Therapy, 54(2), 16-23.
Iwama, M. 2006 (textbook) The Kawa Model; Culturally Relevant Occupational Therapy, Churchill Livingstone-Elsevier Press, Edinburgh, 2006.

Research Interests

Culture and its intersections with occupation and health, Cultural constructions of occupational therapy epistemology, theory and practice; The Kawa model; Return to work occupational therapy; Palliative care and occupations at end of life.

Current Courses

OCCU 1261H Enabling Occupation in Adults 1

Special Lectures / Keynote Speeches

Featured speaker: 2010 October 27, The Kawa Model; heralding a paradigm shift in occupational therapy. World Occupational Therapy Day 2010. International Webcast, hosted by Otago Polytechnic Institute, Dunedin, New Zealand.
Featured speaker: 2009 June 16, Cross-cultural tensions and the importance of relevance in occupational therapy scholarship. Canadian Occupational Therapy Foundation (COTF), Lunch with a Scholar Session. Canadian Association of Occupational Therapists Annual Conference. Ottawa, CANADA
Keynote speaker: 2009 September 28, Like a river; culturally responsive occupational therapy in african contexts. Occupational Therapy Africa Regional Group (OTARG), The 6th Occupational Therapy Africa Regional Group Congress. Mangochi, MALAWI.
Keynote address: 2008 October 7, The kawa model; the power of culturally responsive occupational therapy. Toward Culturally Responsive Disability Services: An International Conference, CIRRIE, Niagara Falls, New York, USA
Keynote address: 2007. May 4, Diverse worldviews; a challenge to scholarship & practice in occupational therapy; Capstone Conference 2007. The University of British Columbia (2007) Vancouver, CANADA.
Keynote address: 2007 April 21, An eastern perspective on occupations in contexts of daily life. International Luncheon. The American Occupational Therapy Association (AOTA) 87th Annual Conference & Expo. St. Louis, Missouri, USA.