2022 CAOT-OSOT Citation Award Recipients: Myles Ahead and the Older Adult Centres’ Association of Ontario

The CAOT-OSOT Citation Award is awarded annually to an agency, program or individual who is not an occupational therapist, and who is recognized for their contribution to the health and well-being of Canadians. The two recipients of the 2022 CAOT-OSOT Citation Award are Myles Ahead: Advancing Child and Youth Mental Health and the Older Adult Centres’ Association of Ontario.

Myles Ahead: Advancing Child and Youth Mental Health
  • Registered charity dedicated to improving mental health services and school-based programming for children, youth and their families.
  • Leslie Kulperger, the Founder and Executive Director, lost her son Myles to suicide at age 11 in 2018. She has since used her challenging experience in navigating mental health supports for Myles and her own learning about the prevalence of youth suicide, as a call to action and created Myles Ahead in her son’s memory.
  • Dedicated to bridging gaps and scaling best practices across Canada that prioritize timely access to appropriate mental health supports and services for children and youth, with the fundamental goal of suicide awareness and prevention.
  • Researched and developed creative, evidenced based solutions for implementation across Canada to help transform mental health access for children, youth and their families.
Older Adult Centres’ Association of Ontario 
  • The voice of older adult centres across Ontario and are a recognized leader in the development of quality services, resources and support for the provincial network of over 200 community based not-for-profit and municipal older adult centres.
  • Shared vision with occupational therapy: A world in which adults are aging successfully, continuing to contribute, remaining engaged, and where their contribution to society is recognized and valued.
  • OSOT has become a business partner of OACAO and have attended their wonderful and informative webinars and conference, advertise in their quarterly newsletter, and have presented for their members.
Sue Hesjedahl, Older Adult Centres’ Association of Ontario's Executive Director, accepted the citation award at the Awards and Recognition Ceremony, hosted at the 2022 OSOT Conference.