WFOT Update

The 35th WFOT Council Meeting was held in Paris, France, in August. Delegates from 57 countries and six regional groups joined executive management to review and discuss WFOT aims and strategic planning for the future. OTA delegates Adam Lo, Emma George and Lynette Mackenzie participated in focus groups on justice equity, diversity and inclusion, education, human resources and governance. We welcomed four new full members to the WFOT (Peru, Lebanon, Ethiopia and Costa Rica) and one new

Adam Lo, WFOT Delegate, and Dr Emma George, WFOT 1st Alternate Delegate

associate member (Kyrgyzstan), bringing the total membership to 107 organisations. Elections were held for executive positions, and we are thrilled to report that OTA’s longserving WFOT delegate Lynette Mackenzie (2nd Alternate Delegate) was elected as WFOT Programme Coordinator Research. Lynette brings a decade of service to WFOT, and we are excited about her leadership at the executive level. In addition, Margarita Gonzalez (Colombia) was re-elected as WFOT Vice President and Tecla Mlambo (Zimbabwe) as WFOT Programme Education. A tradition of WFOT Council Meetings is that delegates exchange cultural gifts. Adam prepared cotton bags (more environmentally friendly) with Vegemite, Australian honey drops, mini koalas and boomerangs/ flags, handmade cards from a local school, beautiful Indigenous art stones that Emma organised with her friend and First Nations artist Mickey Barlow, and pens and lip balms from OTA. They were a big hit with delegates, and a hard act to follow as we start to consider what to include at our next WFOT Council Meeting in Bermuda in 2024

Welcome to WFOT Council Meeting 2022 WFOT Council Group Photo

(decided after a vote by all members, with the other contenders being Hong Kong, Morocco and Rwanda). Please send us any ideas, including anything else WFOTrelated – whether requests for information or support, or ideas on collaboration or how to link up with international colleagues.

Adam’s reflection

With fond memories of the WFOT Council Meeting in South Africa still fresh in my mind as the 1st Alternate Delegate in 2018, it was an absolute pleasure to represent Australia in Paris as the OTA delegate. The previous council meeting scheduled for 2020 in Hong Kong was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic and rescheduled as a virtual meeting in 2021. The Paris meeting was the first time I met others face-to-face since becoming the delegate. I was excited about the opportunity to catch up with many of the delegates from other countries in the flesh – and meet new ones – with a hug here and there (something that I almost fell out of practice with in social settings due to the pandemic!).

At the meeting, I was also acting proxy for the President of the Asia Pacific Occupational Therapy Regional Group, Associate Professor Ling-Hui Chang, of Taiwan, in her absence. This gave me the opportunity to network, plan and work with the presidents of the other WFOT regional groups over the course of the week. This included the Association of Caribbean Occupational Therapists, the Arab Occupational Therapists Regional Group, the Confederación LatinoAmericana De Terapeutas Ocupacionales, the Council of Occupational Therapists for the European Countries and the Occupational Therapy Africa Regional Group. We all agreed we are keen to further enhance our collaboration and communication through several identified strategies and actions.

Additionally, WFOT invited me to be a mentor for two other delegates attending the council meeting for the first time. I gladly accepted, and really enjoyed hosting and mentoring the Acting Delegate of Japan, Professor Jumpie Oba, and the Acting Delegate of

Adam Lo and Carol McKinstry (OTA President) at the OTA booth at WFOT Congress Adam with delegates from Japan

Asia Pacific Occupational Therapy Regional Group

South Korea, Professor Byoungjin Jeon. I believe it is very important in international occupational therapy diplomacy to not only develop a good relationship with colleagues across the world, but also pay close attention to collaborative ties with near neighbours within the Asia-Pacific region.

In my observations, our 1st Alternate Delegate, Dr Emma George, was a shining star during the council meeting, with cross-cultural networking seemingly a natural habitat for her. Emma will no doubt successfully carry the baton forward when she becomes the delegate in 2024. The election of our 2nd Alternate Delegate and my predecessor, Professor Lynette MacKenzie, into the WFOT executive team is testament to our intent to serve as long-term (possibly lifelong) volunteers to the cause, and ensures a continuous chain of contributions and representations from Australia in WFOT. Marilyn Pattison, the previous WFOT president and honorary fellow – the highest international honour an occupational therapist can receive – was a previous WFOT delegate for Australia and continues to contribute significantly for our profession. In Paris, she received the WFOT Merit Award with a standing ovation from the audience. Marilyn is not only an inspiration to many Australian occupational therapists, but also to colleagues across the globe.

Ten occupational therapy associations inaugurated WFOT in 1952. Australia was one of the pioneering nations with Canada,

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WFOT update

Denmark, India, Israel, New Zealand, South Africa, Sweden, the United Kingdom and the USA. Today, the overall footprint, output and reputation of Australian occupational therapists continues to be positive and strong within the international community – something we will strive to maintain. This positive perception is no doubt a collective achievement of Australian occupational therapists across various fields, whether in traditional practice settings or emerging areas, in clinical care or education, or research and policy development. Well done, to all involved. Keep up the great work together, as it is not all done domestically or internationally.

Emma’s reflection

It was an honour and thrill to attend my first WFOT Council Meeting. As the 1st Alternate Delegate, this was an opportunity to listen, learn and observe how delegates from different countries communicated, advocated and worked together. The meeting is formal and well-structured, and the discussions rich and focused on the needs, growth and priorities of the profession. Throughout the meeting, we sat with colleagues from Japan and South Korea as Adam mentored all of us on council processes and strategic decision-making. During breaks, we met delegates from all regions, and it was interesting to hear how occupational therapy is in demand around the world in so many areas of practice. There is a shared commitment to supporting the development of the profession locally and globally.

A highlight was meeting Ukrainian WFOT delegate Olya Mangusheva, who shared how she left Ukraine with her young family at the start of the war. She delivered a passionate call for support for occupational therapists, survivors and the broader community:

Dear colleagues, on behalf of the Ukrainian Society of Ergotherapists, we would like to thank WFOT for its continued support of the Ukrainian ergotherapy community, especially at this tragic time of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. We thank WFOT as well as numerous member organizations for their public statements of condemnation of this war that infringes on the rights of the Ukrainian people to live purposeful and engaged lives in safety and peace. Forty million people in the heart of Europe are experiencing severe occupational injustice and deprivation in the worst war and humanitarian crisis since World War II.

The Ukrainian Society of Ergotherapists has been working hard to support our therapists across the country, who are working with wounded soldiers returning from the war front with online learning and mentorship projects, but we are such a young profession, and due to our limited capacity, we cannot meet the increasingly growing needs of our colleagues, not to mention our clients.

So, allow me to focus on the ways WFOT member organizations can assist us in enabling access to the human right to participate in chosen occupations.

Firstly, I address European colleagues, as the majority of refugees have entered your countries and are putting a strain on your healthcare systems (and we are aware of that). We ask that, in solidarity, you extend your services to Ukrainian refugees AND when you carry out outreach programs for our citizens, please let the Ukrainian Society of Ergotherapists know about them.

Secondly, we are planning the fourth annual occupational therapy conference in Ukraine to be held online on 3 December 2022, and we are seeking skilled occupational therapists with experience treating war veterans, refugees and working in under-resourced contexts. Please inquire within your national associations and help us find such expert speakers.

And thirdly, we invite WFOT member organizations to be paired with rehabilitation departments in hospitals or rehabilitation centers across Ukraine in an extended mentorship project. However, we ask that you carefully consider your resources, availability of professionals qualified to address unique needs of clients in war crises or experienced in developing OT services in under-resourced environments, or creative and culturally sensitive thinkers, as well as possibilities for fundraising. If this sounds feasible to your organization, we welcome your help. Please contact us and we will further discuss this. We have got some very tangible ideas in mind. Our email is ergo.ukraine@gmail. com. It is also on the WFOT website.

Lastly, we would like to remind you that WFOT encourages contacting the national organization prior to initiation of projects to be carried out in the foreign country.

Once again, I would also like to thank WFOT and all member organizations at this council for expressing their solidarity with the people of Ukraine. We will need your ongoing support.

Australian delegates Lynette Mackenzie, Emma George and Adam Lo

- Olya Mangusheva, Ukrainian delegate to WFOT

WFOT Congress

The 18th WFOT Congress “Occupational R-Evolution” was successfully held in Paris from 28-31 August 2022. The WFOT delegates attended with OTA President Professor Carol McKinstry and CEO Samantha Hunter. The hybrid congress was attended by more than 2,500 delegates from more than 100 countries.

The congress provided a range of content – starting from the Education Day to the Closing Ceremony – as a valuable learning experience for all (in English and French).

WFOT awards were officially presented during the congress. The Thelma Cardwell Foundation Award for Research was presented to María Agostina Ciampa, Natalia Soledad Fiorella Martínez and Gonzalo Aranés. WFOT Merit Awards were presented to past WFOT Executive Management team members Marilyn Pattison, Sandra Bressler and Liliana Alvarez. The highly prestigious WFOT Honorary Fellow Award was presented to Sue Baptiste, Margarita Gonzalez and Ritchard Ledgerd.

An OTA information/exhibition stall at the congress was well attended by delegates, volunteers and other Australian occupational therapists. Consultation and promotion of OTA conferences and opportunities to work in Australia were delivered by the OTA CEO, President, WFOT delegates and a handful of member volunteers. The location of the next congress in 2026 is yet to be decided. Due to the uncertainty of the global situation, the WFOT executive team will announce the decision after careful planning and consideration.

Emma George and Adam Lo at the WFOT Congress