Foundations in cognitive rehabilitation for occupational therapy professionals (February 2026)

Online

February 6 to 19, 2026 (on your own)
Fridays, February 20 & 27, 2026 from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. (Eastern Time)

What time is this for me?

Cognition is a functional domain that can be impacted by an injury, condition, disability, or significant changes in contextual demands. Cognitive difficulties can be difficult to navigate for occupational therapists due to the multi-factorial determinants of cognitive abilities. These difficulties, which can be modulated by contextual factors, can affect the occupational participation of clients, as expressed by the Canadian Model of Occupational Participation (CanMOP; Egan & Restall, 2022). Occupational therapy professionals can be leaders on the health care team in assessing function cognition and providing cognitive rehabilitation that includes interventions to improve cognitive functioning, to change the activity demands, or to change the social or physical environment ( Giles et al., 2019). 

This workshop will provide occupational therapy professionals with a foundation of knowledge and skills in cognitive rehabilitation based on the publication Evidence-based cognitive rehabilitation: Systematic review of the literature from 2009 through 2014 ( Cicerone et al., 2019). A pre-recorded lecture (approximately 2 hours) will review principles, theories, and models of practice in cognitive rehabilitation must be reviewed prior to the workshop. An optional pre-recorded lecture (approximately 30 minutes) on return to work and cognitive work hardening will be available for participants working in this practice area. During the two-day workshop, participants will learn the principles of cognitive rehabilitation assessment and intervention strategies to increase occupational participation for adults experiencing deficits in meta-cognition, awareness, memory, attention, and executive functioning. To consolidate learning, participants will have a chance to apply these strategies to case study examples and will complete a quiz at the end of each workshop day.

Preliminary workshop agenda

Pre-recorded lecture: February 6 to 19, 2026 

February 20, 2026 from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. (Eastern Time)

February 27, 2026 from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. (Eastern Time)

*General timeline. Break and lunch breaks are fixed. Topic timelines may vary depending on progression.

Learning objectives

After watching the pre-recorded lecture, you will be able to:

1. Understand the principles, theories, and models of practice in cognitive rehabilitation.
2. Understand the rationale for cognitive work hardening and recommend accommodations for the return to work or school process.

By the end of this workshop, you will be able to:

1. Identify current cognitive assessment tools for attention, memory, executive functioning, and awareness impairments.
2. Apply bottom-up and top-down intervention strategies within occupational therapy practice to improve attention, memory, executive functioning, and awareness impairments that impact occupational participation.
3. Consider how to apply the evidence from Evidence-based cognitive rehabilitation: Systematic review of the literature from 2009 through 2014 (Cicerone et al., 2019) in a functional context with various client populations living with cognitive deficits. 

Target audience

Occupational therapists, occupational therapist assistants, and students in occupational therapy programs working with adults living with cognitive impairments that impact occupational participation. Participants are expected to have watched the pre-recorded webinar (approximately 2 hours, available on February 6, 2026) prior to attending the two-day workshop.

Cognitive rehabilitation by occupational therapists has been researched with people who sustained a brain injury (e.g., Dougherty & Radomski, 1987), people with schizophrenia (e.g., Wykes et al., 2011), people who sustained a stroke (e.g., Wolf, 2011), people with depression (e.g., Motter et al., 2015), people who have a substance use disorder (e.g., Rezapour et al., 2019), people with multiple sclerosis (e.g., Chen et al., 2021). There is also preliminary support for cognitive rehabilitation for people experiencing long COVID-19 (e.g., Watters et al., 2021) and for adults with Parkinson’s disease (e.g., Foster et al., 2021).

Please note: Both the presenters' clinical experience is primarily in private practice with people with a mild traumatic brain injury and/or mood disorders who are off work or having difficulty at work (ages 18-65 predominantly). Therefore, case studies, assessment tools, and evidence-based guidelines are developed from these populations. 

Each participant is responsible to ensure they apply the information within the context of their licensure, provincial/territorial legislations, institution regulations, scope of practice, etc.

Client age group

Adults (20-64 years old)

Areas of practice

Brain Injury/Concussion, Cognition, Generalist, Mental Health, MVA Rehabilitation, Occupational Therapist Assistant, Return to Work

Workshop level

Beginner (0-2 years of experience in cognitive rehabilitation)

Please note: Participants with more than this stated level of experience are welcome to attend the workshop. The workshop content will be geared towards those with 0-2 years of experience.

Presenters

Adam Ly, OT Reg. (Ont.)

Adam Ly, OT Reg. (Ont.), is an occupational therapist practising in London, Ontario since 2016. He focuses on helping adults who experience mild-moderate cognitive impairments, mental health, and return to work due to various conditions including mild traumatic brain injury, mood disorders, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and late-diagnosis autism. He is an Adjunct Clinical Professor at Western University in the School of Occupational Therapy, an adjunct lecturer at the University of Toronto in the Occupational Science and Occupational Therapy Department, a workshop presenter through CAOT, and a mentor at CBI Health. He has completed psychotherapy supervision at The Beck Institute in Cognitive Behavioural Therapy and is a Certified Multi-Context Approach clinician by Dr. Joan Toglia.

Amandeep (Aman) Bains, OT Reg. (Ont.)

Aman Bains graduated from Western University in 2004.  He started his career working in community mental health, prior to joining CBI Health in 2007.  He has practised in many roles at CBI Health including as an outpatient OT, Senior Regional OT, Provincial Practice Lead for Complex Care, and currently as the Senior Manager of National Training & Development.  He is also the National Lead for Physical and Cognitive Functional Capacity Evaluations at CBI Health.  Aman has extensive occupational rehabilitation experience working on an interdisciplinary team assisting clients with physical, cognitive and psychosocial barriers in return to function.   Over the years, Aman has facilitated a number of courses related to functional capacity evaluation, ergonomics, occupational rehabilitation, physical & cognitive job demands analysis, risk assessment & intervention, and cognitive rehabilitation. He is passionate about best practice in complex care, mental health, cognitive rehabilitation and assisting in the development journey of others.    

Registration fee

Registration deadline: February 20, 2026 at 9:59 a.m. (Eastern Time) 

Please note that CAOT does not offer group registration fees.  

*It may be more cost effective to become a CAOT Member or Associate rather than pay the non-member rate. See “Can a non-member register for a Workshop?” in our Professional Development FAQs to know which membership category you are eligible for.   

Registration fee includes:

• Access to the online workshop platform
• Access to the workshop recording for 14 days following the live sessions
• An electronic copy of the presentation slide handouts
• Opportunities to network with other occupational therapists with an interest in this topic
• An electronic certificate of attendance

Cancellation/refund policy

All cancellation/refund requests must be sent in writing to education@caot.ca. All cancellation requests received by January 21, 2026 will be given a full refund minus a $50.00 administrative fee. No refunds will be given after January 21, 2026 . Substitutions and transfers requests received by January 21, 2026 are permitted and are subject to a $50.00 administrative fee.

If you are exceptionally unable to complete the workshop, please reach out to  education@caot.ca by 25 days following the end of the workshop for extended access to the recording (up to one month after the end of the workshop) or a one-time transfer to another offering of the same workshop if currently open for registration. 

CAOT reserves the right to modify the workshop title, description, registration dates and information on the workshop webpage. CAOT will notify participants on or before December 19, 2025 if there is insufficient registration by that date and reserves the right to cancel a Workshop due to insufficient registration up until January 9, 2026. CAOT reserves the right to modify the offering, interrupt Workshops, change the timing of a Workshop, cancel a Workshop or change the technology for the Workshop due to the presenter no longer being able to present the Workshop, severe weather, power failure, building closures or other special circumstances that are beyond the control of CAOT by notifying participants as soon as possible. If the Workshop is cancelled by CAOT, registrants will receive a full refund of the registration fee. CAOT will not be responsible for other costs or expenses incurred by registrants as a result of any such changes.

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The Canadian Association of Occupational Therapists (CAOT) is committed to accessibility as expressed in the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA). We provide an electronic copy of the handouts approximately one week ahead of time in multiple slide layouts, auto-generated closed captioning through Zoom (excluding breakout rooms), as well as access to the recording for two weeks following the workshop. If you require additional special arrangements for accessibility, please contact education@caot.ca or 1-800-434-2268.  

This workshop is offered in English.