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Many workshops about identifying, understanding, and responding to microaggressions have been designed and delivered to learners within health education. However, few workshops implement an anti-racist pedagogical approach, and none presented in the literature have been created specifically for occupational therapy students. Anti-racist pedagogical approaches explicitly link interpersonal and institutional/structural oppressions to ensure that the impacts of microaggressions are not minimized by focusing solely on interpersonal interactions. A specific workshop is needed to address the noted persistence of racial microaggressions directed at clients, families, students, and practitioners within occupational therapy contexts and due to the embeddedness of practitioners in clients’ daily lives. To address the gap in curricular intervention tools, a workshop was designed and implemented. The workshop was delivered to master's professional entry-level occupational therapy students with the goal of raising knowledge of racial microaggressions and confidence to actively respond when microaggressions occur in their classroom, fieldwork, and future practice. This workshop was developed and delivered using an anti-racist pedagogy and a transformative learning approach within the occupational therapy curriculum of a Canadian university. This paper presents the content, process, and pedagogical underpinnings of the workshop and introduces a trauma-informed and strength-based model for responding to microaggressions. When introduced through an anti-racist pedagogy, we demonstrate how a workshop on racial microaggressions provides an opportunity to teach occupational therapy students key tenets of racism and anti-racism as they manifest in and beyond occupational therapy. An anti-racist approach can inform pedagogical planning for microaggression workshops delivered across and beyond health education.

Background: Occupational science and occupational therapy typically perceive occupations as promoting health and well-being. However, this perspective overlooks the many occupations that are viewed as illegal, unhealthy, or risky, such as drug use. Due to its negative association with health, drug use is perceived as not holding significance or meaning in people’s lives. Objective: This study explores how individuals perceive and describe the meaning of their cannabis use in the context of their lives, from an occupational perspective. Methods: A scoping review was conducted using Levac et al.’ modifications to Arksey and O’Malley’s framework. To examine the peer-reviewed literature, 7 databases were searched using terms related to cannabis and meaning. Descriptive statistics were used to describe the selected studies, and reflexive thematic analysis identified cross-study themes. Results: Fourteen studies were selected. Most studies have been published since 2008, with 5 published in the last 2 years. Four themes were identified across the studies: (a) preserving life; (b) navigating the routines of everyday life; (c) understanding the self, identity, and belonging; and (d) expanding the view of the world. Conclusions: Cannabis use was revealed in this study as a support for navigating occupational routines and enhancing occupational repertoires and engagement, feelings of belonging, and collective user identities. As such, substance abuse treatment practices, including those provided by occupational therapists, should recognize the potential significance of cannabis use within people’s lives. Using a harm reduction approach, occupational therapists can acknowledge the ways in which clients use cannabis to manage their daily routines, while also focusing on supporting clients to reduce the ill-effects of cannabis. As individuals become more engaged in occupations that are significant in their lives, their need for and meaning of cannabis use may change leading to a possible reduction in its use and a shift in their identity construction.