OTA awards recap

A number of awards were presented at the 2021 National Conference to members for their contributions to occupational therapy. OTA congratulates the award recipients for their ongoing service to the profession.

Honorary Life Membership

The Honorary Life Membership Award is granted to Occupational Therapy Australia members who have shown meritorious services in the field of occupational therapy while displaying exemplary contributions in support of the Association.

This year the Board approved conferring Honorary Life Membership to two of its long-term members Dr Angela Berndt and Marilyn Pattison.

Dr Angela Berndt Marilyn Pattison

Occupational Therapy Australia Research Awards

These awards acknowledge an occupational therapist’s contribution towards the advancement of the research base of occupational therapy. There are awards in four categories:

Early Career Researcher Kylie Wales Mid Career Researcher Tamara Tse Research Team The Brain Recovery and Rehabilitation Research Group

Clinical Researcher Karen Arblaster

The Occupational Therapy School of Victoria Clinical Awards

Thanks to the generosity of the trustees of the Occupational Therapy Trust Fund, this newly established award will provide OTA members with opportunities for growth and development. This year there are three recipients:

Lisa Knightbridge Rebecca Smith Danielle Hitch

OTA awards recap continued

Occupational Therapy Australia Research Academy

Conferment of Fellows

The Occupational Therapy Australia Research Academy has been established not only to recognise scholars in the profession, but also to enhance research capacity building in the profession. The following were announced as 2021 Fellows:

Professor Reinie Cordier

For 20 years Reinie has led research for developing playbased interventions in children with developmental disorders. He developed the first observational assessment of pragmatic language skill, which is fundamental to developing psycho-social and play skills. A focus of his research is how to ensure that people from different populations and social strata experience participation, remain engaged, and live socially connected and healthy lives. He produces evidence for the effectiveness of occupational therapy interventions in different populations. His work is applied and intended to influence practice, so he researches service-delivery arrangements and intervention techniques in terms of how well they achieve such outcomes. Much of his work is interdisciplinary and he advocates for the expansion of conventional occupational therapy practice areas to include children who have been exposed to domestic violence, and developing life skills for young people leaving care.

Professor Pamela Meredith

Professor Meredith’s early clinical experiences in child and youth mental health simulated her motivation to understand how characteristics and experiences originating in childhood are linked with physical and mental health outcomes throughout life. To this end, she has focused on how attachment and sensory patterns, developed and evident early in life, are related to longer-term health behaviours, health conditions and treatment outcomes.

Related to this aim, Professor Meredith’s research focuses on:

• Parenting and child trauma; • Persistent/chronic pain; • Burnout; • Mental illness and substance use; and • Palliative care, grief, and loss.

Attachment and sensory-informed approaches are widely recognised as underpinning more individual, person-centred and trauma-informed care, which optimise quality-of-life, health and engagement outcomes throughout the life span.

The goal of this work is to provide evidence and insights to inform clinical reasoning and the therapeutic process, including prevention, early intervention and evidence-based practice.

Professor Iona Novak

Iona’s research discovers, tests and translates new treatments in priority areas identified by people with cerebral palsy. Her major research contributions are in:

• Inventing an evidence rating system with traffic light colour codes to help parents, clinicians and policymakers discern effective from ineffective treatments. The work has been implemented in 24 countries; • Leading and implementing a worldfirst clinical practice guideline for the early diagnosis of cerebral palsy.

Diagnosis previously occurred from 12-24 months of age but is now possible at three months, enabling early intervention and parent support; • Establishing home programs, botulinum toxin, CO-OP and stem cell treatments for cerebral palsy; and • Co-founding the Australian Register, which recorded a 30 per cent reduction in the rate of cerebral palsy, conferring $2 billion in savings. She is known for blue-sky thinking, leadership of global collaborative endeavours, translation of treatment from benchto-bedside-to-healthcare-to-policy and capacity-building new talent.

Associate Professor Mandy Stanley

Mandy is Associate Professor in Occupational Therapy at Edith Cowan University and holds an adjunct position with the University of South Australia. Since completing her PhD in 2006 she has developed an international reputation for her expertise in qualitative research methodologies, and is known for her contribution to occupational science and occupational therapy education. She has attracted $3.6 million in research funding and published more than 60 peerreviewed journal papers and book chapters. Professor Stanley chairs the Editorial Board of the Journal of Occupational Science and was an Associate Editor for nine years. She has a passion for research that seeks the perspective of consumers and for developing research capacity in occupational therapists. Mandy is an active supervisor of higher-degree and under-graduate research students and collaborates with researchers in Sweden, Ireland, New Zealand and Canada.

Sylvia Docker Lecture 2021

The Board of Occupational Therapy Australia is delighted to announce Professor Lindy Clemson as the recipient of the 2021 Sylvia Docker Lecture Award.

As Professor of Ageing and Occupational Therapy at the University of Sydney, Lindy is well known nationally and internationally among clinicians and researchers concerned with providing services for older people. Given the challenges of population ageing in Australia and elsewhere, her contribution to giving occupational therapy a voice in the multidisciplinary world of developing services for older people has been consistent for years. Her work has ensured the role of occupational therapy is promoted and valued.

In 2017, Lindy was awarded an inaugural Fellow of the Occupational Therapy Australia Research Foundation (FOTARA). Her publications, highlighted in Cochrane Reviews, have influenced practice and policy. Her research has explored multimethodology inquiries, intervention trials and implementation science.

She is leader of the Active Ageing Research Node, Charles Perkins Centre, an investigator on the Centre of Excellence for Population Ageing Research at the University of Sydney, and an Honorary Professor at Nottingham University in the UK.

Lindy is a positive role model for students and mentored many in evidence-based practice, student research projects and falls prevention topics. Her commitment to education is further demonstrated by her record of successful high-degree research supervision which continues today. Her PhD students have made significant contributions to occupational therapy in falls prevention, occupational therapy discharge planning and functional assessments, illuminating the cost benefits of occupational therapy, validating functional cognitive assessments, and testing dementia re-ablement programs. They have also been forging new directions as clinical researchers, and many of her HDR students have developed careers as educators or clinician leaders.

Lindy has demonstrated her strong community service to occupational therapy in Australia having been on the Editorial Board of the Australian Occupational Therapy Journal, and in multidisciplinary leadership roles such as the Executive of the Australian and New Zealand Falls Prevention Society, and the Editorial Board of the US Journal of Aging and Health. Locally, Lindy has held Director roles for the Independent Living Centre of NSW from 2001-09 and is a life member in recognition of her service.

Lindy presented her lecture Relevance and Resilience: A bright future for occupational therapy at the 2021 Occupational Therapy Australia National Conference.

As well as the awards presented at the 2021 National Conference, OTA acknowledges the following grant recipients.

Elspeth Pearson Award

This award enables recipients to advance their clinical skills and expertise through access to professional development. It has been made possible through the generosity of Elspeth Pearson’s family and the Elspeth Pearson Estate. The 2021 award recipient is Abbey Walker

OTARF direct grants

The Occupational Therapy Australia Research Foundation grant scheme aims to generate research knowledge relevant to occupational therapy practice, and support the research capacity and career development of Australian occupational therapists. Research output is expected as a result of completing a project funded by this grant scheme.

There are two recipients for the 2021 OFARF DGR grant: Lorrae Mynard, Dr Miia Rahja