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”. He is regularly sought to lecture locally and internationally and has delivered a number of keynote addresses at conferences and symposia in the United Kingdom, Europe, East Asia, Oceania, and in North America- which included the 2007 American Occupational Therapy Association Congress in St. Louis, and the 2005 AOTF Research Colloquium on Social Justice and Participation. 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 an adjunct appointment at the University of Queensland, Australia.

Selected Recent Publications

Iwama, M. (textbook) The Kawa Model; Culturally Relevant Occupational Therapy, Churchill Livingstone-Elsevier Press, Edinburgh, 2006.
Iwama, M. (2007) 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. (2007) Embracing diversity: Explaining the cultural dimensions of our occupational therapeutic selves. New Zealand Journal of Occupational Therapy, 54(2), 16-23.
Iwama, M. The Kawa (River) Model: Client centred rehabilitation in cultural context". Davis, S. (Ed). Rehabilitation; The use of theories and models in practice, Oxford, Churchill Livingstone Elsevier, 2006.
Iwama, M. "Situated Meaning: an issue of culture, inclusion and occupational therapy" in Kronenberg, F., Simo Algado, S. and Pollard, N. (Eds). Occupational Therapy without Borders - Learning from the Spirit of Survivors, Churchill Livingstone, Elsevier, Edinburgh, 2005.

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

Keynote address: Diverse Worldviews; a Challenge to Scholarship & Practice in Occupational Therapy; Capstone Conference 2007. The University of British Columbia (2007) Vancouver, CANADA.
Invited address: The Kawa (River) Model; Culturally Relevant Occupational Therapy; Graduate Research Colloquim, School of Physical and Occupational Therapy, McGill University (2007) Montreal, CANADA.
Keynote address: An Eastern Perspective on Occupation in Contexts of Daily Life; The Kawa (River) Model; International Symposium, Annual Conference of the American Occupational Therapy Association (2007) St. Louis, USA.
Keynote address: Embracing diversity: Explaining the cultural dimensions of our occupational therapeutic selves; Biennial Conference of the New Zealand Association of Occupational Therapists (2006) Wellington, NZ.
Invited lecture: Synthesis of Emerging Research in Social Justice & Participation. 2005 American Occupational Therapy Foundation (AOTF) Research Colloquium; 2005) Long Beach, USA.