Message from the President
President’s Message May 2010
‘Outstanding’, ‘the best ever’, ‘an incredible experience’, these were a few of the phrases shared by therapists at the 15th World Federation of Occupational Therapists' Congress 2010 in Santiago, Chile, 4 – 7 May.
The success of the Congress can also be viewed through the feast of professional development, sharing, networking and celebration! Occupational therapists from across the world (over 2000 delegates from over 50 countries) participated in Pre-Congress Workshops, Education Day, and the four days of Congress.
The atmosphere was electric with roaming musicians, vivid audio visuals and by traditional musical and dance performances by local cultural groups. The latter were frequently made up by students from national occupational therapy programs. It was wonderful to see so many delegates sharing the hospitality and many cultural opportunities offered by our Chilean and South American colleagues. The Congress was imbued with a welcoming and warm climate, engaging all those attending. Making the presentations in a bilingual format was an important step forward in enabling increased participation in Congress and accessing professional knowledge arising from Latin America.
As you are aware, Disaster Preparedness and Response (DP&R) was an important item on the Congress agenda. It was exciting to see the WFOT DP&R booth being so well supported during Congress. I would like to thank Kit Sinclair, Kerry Thomas, Nancy Rushford and Enrique Henny for their work in facilitating the booth and related DP&R activities. As a result of the Chilean earth quakes in February, a special session was held to bring together local and regional therapists and other groups who are interested in getting involved in the area. There are many more therapists who want more advanced training and the WFOT will be exploring the possibility of partnering with other groups to meet these needs.
Congress was preceded by Pre-Congress Workshops and Education Day. Many delegates participated in these learning and sharing opportunities and more information will be available about these events soon on the Congress website.
The WFOT Executive Management Team and Council always meet prior to Congress. Your WFOT representatives worked very hard at these meetings to progress the objectives of WFOT as an organisation promoting and supporting occupational therapy and occupational therapists globally. The presence of the WFOT in Latin America serves our objective of creating opportunities for the occupational therapists in low resourced countries to access advanced international knowledge and professional developments first hand and regionally.
I thank all delegates and organisers for their enthusiastic contributions to the success of Congress. You will be able to read more about the happenings at Congress over the next few months as we update the Congress 2010 website.
E Sharon Brintnell
President