Interview with Gail Bass, PhD, OTR/L

The life history of Dr. Gail Bass was one of 31 life history interviews conducted as part of a larger project of Life Histories of Individuals Who have Been Influential in Developing Occupational Therapy (OT) in North Dakota and Wyoming. The purpose of this Life History is to gather information about the evolution and history of OT practice from individuals who have been influential in developing OT. This study is intended to help current and future occupational therapists understand how the career has evolved throughout the existence of the profession. The life history of Dr. Gail Bass is a case study that examined her experiences as an OT practitioner, educator, and learner. This study used the Kawa model to guide the interview and data analysis. The model uses the analogy of a river representing the flow of their life history with rocks representing barriers, driftwood representing aspects that could either facilitate or hinder the flow of their river, and the riverbed representing the contexts that surrounds the individual (Turpin & Iwama, 2011