ASSOCIATION OF OCCUPATIONAL THERAPISTS OF IRELAND Suite 2.20, Smithfield Business Centre, Distiller's Building, Smithfield, Dublin 7.
European Network of Occupational Therapy in Higher Education 22nd Annual Meeting, National University of Ireland Galway Delegate Report
AOTI ENOTHE Delegate: Dr. Karen McCarthy AOTI ENOTHE Alternate Delegate: Orla Sullivan
The 22nd Annual Meeting of the European Network of Occupational Therapy in Higher Education (ENOTHE) took place in the National University of Ireland Galway (NUIG) during the inaugural COTEC-ENOTHE Congress 15th to 19th June 2016. The Congress brought ENOTHE and the Council of Occupational Therapists for European Countries (COTEC) together in the theme of ‘Connecting’ for education, practice, research and policy. It is planned for COTEC and ENOTHE to come together for a joint Congress every four years, to foster greater links between Occupational Therapy education and practice under the newly unveiled OT-EU umbrella (www.oteurope.eu).
Almost 1,000 OT educators, practitioners, students, researchers and policy- makers from over 29 countries attended the four-day meeting hosted by the Discipline of Occupational Therapy at NUI Galway, led by Professor Agnes Shiel. The AOTI was represented by Dr. Karen McCarthy, AOTI ENOTHE Delegate and Orla Sullivan, ENOTHE Alternate Delegate. Dr. Karen McCarthy was a member of the Organising Committee for COTEC-ENOTHE, Galway and participated in multiple meetings, providing input on conference design and planning decisions in the run-up to the Congress.
Page 1 of 4 Ireland was well represented during the Congress, with educators and students from the National University of Ireland Galway, Trinity College Dublin, University of Limerick, and University College Cork as well as many Occupational Therapy practitioners and researchers from Ireland. The AOTI had a stand in the main concourse of the Congress with AOTI staff and members on hand to provide information and answer queries about the AOTI.
Overview of the Congress
Conference delegates were welcomed at the Opening Ceremony by the President of NUI Galway, Professor Agnes Shiel, Head of the Discipline of Occupational Therapy at NUIG, and Pauline Burke, Chairperson of the AOTI. Pauline urged the audience to commit to the theme of ‘Connecting’ and to connect with a new person from outside their typical practice area during the Congress.
Professor Marion Walker from the University of Nottingham presented the first keynote on ‘Evidence-based policy and policy-based evidence: opportunities and challenges for OT’. Her take home messages urged OTs to focus on “what works”, and reminded us that research can help in informing us of what doesn’t work as well as what does.
The second keynote speaker, Professor Jan de Maesneer, a medical doctor, presented on “The role of occupational therapy in addressing multimorbidity through goal-oriented care in a changing society, with a focus on Primary Care”. He highlighted that what matters most to patients is their functional status and their social interaction, a clear role for Occupational Therapy. He suggested that goal-setting in goal-oriented care needs to be inter-professional and that a client’s goals should be on the first page of the chart for all to see.
Day Two of the Congress began with a keynote from Professor Salvador Simo Algado, co-founder of Occupational Therapy Without Borders, on socially inclusive occupational practices. He questioned whether OT students are prepared for global issues, highlighted the need for occupational therapy programmes to teach students about the injustices and difficult realities of the world, and called for the inclusion of service learning, learning by doing, and complex learning in OT curricula. He talked about the importance of humanity- based practice and reminded the audience that we all have the capacity to start something new.
Professor Corey Keyes, a social psychologist in the field of mental health, began Day Three with his keynote on mental illness and mental health. He explained that the absence of mental illness does not equate with the presence of mental health. Professor Keyes then demonstrated a psychological equation for mental
Page 2 of 4 health, which indicates if a person is ‘languishing’, ‘moderate’, or ‘flourishing’. He identified that the absence of flourishing can be as bad as the presence of mental illness, and highlighted the importance of meaning, purpose and connection in people’s lives.
Professor Mary Law addressed the audience on the final day of the Congress, in her keynote titled ‘Sharing our knowledge to make a difference’. She discussed knowledge translation and gave examples of occupational therapy influencing policy at different levels, including the Canadian ‘Do.Live.Well’ programme. Professor Law announced that this was her last keynote before she retired, and the audience gave her a standing ovation both for her keynote, and to honour her contribution to the profession of Occupational Therapy.
The final keynote speaker was Daráine Mulvihill, an Irish sports reporter who has worked with RTE, BBC, and Channel 4. She spoke about how, at the age of sixteen, she lost her legs below the knees and all of her fingers after contracting an aggressive strain of meningitis and septicaemia. She spoke of her experience managing the change in her life and adapting to challenge. She spoke positively about the role of Occupational Therapy in her journey.
ENOTHE Pre-General and General Assembly
The ENOTHE Pre-General Assembly reviewed ENOTHE finances and the ENOTHE Strategy 2016 – 2020 was accepted by members.
The Hanneke van Bruggen Lecture for ENOTHE was delivered by Sylvia Meyer, Dean of Applied Sciences and Arts of Western Switzerland. She spoke of the challenges of conducting an OT programme and practicing as an OT in the French language. The terminology of occupation is used interchangeably. The terms “ergotherapie” (meaning work or strength) and “therapie occupationelle” do not equate. The French dictionary defines occupation as that to which one designates one’s use of time/profession but also as a state of emptiness and containing nothing, nothing is intrinsically valued. As you can see this could be problematic for the profession and its identity. The academic development of OT in Switzerland did not receive university status until the 21st century. There is still no OT masters or PhD. In Switzerland there are 3000-3200 OTs working, of this 879 are in private practice. Meyer stressed the importance of having a doctoral level education for OT. She stated there is no occupational science used and there is a decreased interest in use of an occupation centred approach. They need to have more manuals and textbooks translated to French. Jennifer Creek and Sylvia Meyer translated common OT definitions in 2010 (Eng) and 2015 (Fr.) through a terminology group.
Page 3 of 4 ENOTHE participants were divided into workshops to refine the role of OT-EU, whose three branches include practice, education and research.
The General Assembly meeting was chaired by Brian Ellingham from Norway, President of ENOTHE who will be stepping down. The accomplishments of OT- EU include having a joint Congress, OT-EU coordinating group, OT-EU website (www.oteurope.eu), exploring shared office solution, graphic profile (public relations materials), and WHO primary care representation of OT.
Brian Ellingham, Ines Viana-Moldes, and Anne Lawson Porter stepped down from ENOTHE committee. Three new members were elected. There will no longer be a position for a “COTEC linking member” as this will be accomplished through the OT-EU commission. Therefore there will still be 6 members on the committee but 2 will be “general members”.
Important Dates: 2017: 23rd Annual ENOTHE Meeting, Zagreb, Croatia, October 26th-28th 2017 2020: 2nd COTEC-ENOTHE Congress, Prague October 14th-18th 2020
The AOTI wish to extend our congratulations and thanks to the Congress organising team at the National University of Ireland Galway, for their terrific work in hosting the Congress. It was great to represent the AOTI at such a fantastic event.
The Delegates would like to thank AOTI Council and Office for facilitating our time at the ENOTHE this year.
______Karen McCarthy Orla Sullivan AOTI ENOTHE Delegate AOTI ENOTHE Alternate Delegate
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