Feedback from the more than 1,400 delegates at the recent Occupational Therapy Australia National Conference was positive, business development national manager, Rebecca Meyer told F2L. “Comments on keynote speakers, the scientific program and the exhibition space were favourable,” she said. “As intended, the conference facilitated the exchange of knowledge and new ideas around the delivery of care and support and helping ensure occupational therapists in Australia remain at the forefront of the profession.”
The conference’s theme, Together Towards Tomorrow, highlighted the many ways OTs work in partnership with consumers, communities and colleagues to support optimal occupational performance, health and wellbeing.
Keynote speakers included Walkley Award winning journalist, Leigh Sales, who said people make choices everyday oblivious as to where they might lead. “How do we come to terms with things that can blindside us in an instant, such as the Lindt Café siege that can level people without discrimination because the world did not seem as a safe as it once was and the possibility of a catastrophe seemed real.”
She spoke about the role of OTs who assist people with rehab and adapt to their injuries or deal with new bodies or circumstances. “OTs are often among the first to support them to make sense of what has happened, create a new narrative about what their future might be like, letting go of their old, normal life and imagine a new normal. “For every person that path is unique. Because you have done it before does not mean you are going to apply the same things to help a new person. You might see eight people a day going through this and it might be easy to become blasé but they have not gone through this before. For them it is massively important, new, confronting and a difficult process. Help them navigate the terrain and understand it really is difficult terrain and a hard slog.
“I am constantly stunned and astonished but uplifted by what I have learned from people who face challenging days and I hope that what I have shared this morning will be useful tools for encouraging people get through tough times,” she said.
Another speaker, University of Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, associate professor, School of Child and Youth Care Dr Alison Gerlach spoke about the role of rehabilitation, health care, and early intervention in breaking the links between children’s early experience of adversity and the higher risk of subsequent health and social inequities.
The Sylvia Docker lecture was given by Professor Gail Whiteford, (pictured), currently chief investigator for the World Federation of the OT Narratives Data Base Project and chief investigator of an international study on the relationship between occupation, social connectedness and wellbeing.
La Trobe University associate professor, Natasha Lannin spoke about the need for the OT profession to strike a balance between training the next generation of academic researchers and nurturing clinicians to carry out research outside of traditional academia.
The scientific program comprised 66 concurrent sessions over the three days, with 347 peer reviewed academic presentations, involving core areas of occupational therapy. This included working with people of all ages with disability, falls prevention, cancer and palliative care, supporting people with dementia living at home, and working with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. There were a further 168 e-Poster presentations.
OTA is also hosting the OT Exchange 2020 in Melbourne on June 22-23, an interactive event where participants are encouraged to contribute, share and employ ideas of value. Themed around three key concepts, Learn, Practise and Enrich, it is a first step for those who are keen to present at scientific conferences.
The 2021 OTA National Conference will be held in Cairns on June 23-25.