2014 CAOT Conference- Reflection on Occupation: Enabling Healthy Communities

Lighthouse on the Green, Fredericton

It is hard to believe that that another CAOT conference week has ended. After months of preparation, the week whizzed by in a blink.

For CAOT-BC, the week started with a meeting of the Professional Alliance of Canada (PAC).

May 5-PAC representatives

With representatives from almost all the provinces and territories. Discussions included common issues that occupational therapists and associations are facing across Canada. Topics ranged from funding of public and private health systems, use of advanced practice titles, access to education, emerging areas of practice for occupational therapists, sharing of resources and membership engagement, to name a few.

This was followed by a full-day facilitated session titled, "Getting Social", focusing on considerations for successful social media use for our associations and our profession. Did you know that Facebook is the largest social media network with 1.23 billion monthly active users and approximately 4.5 billion "likes" per day?

May 6- Community CarFit event in Fredericton

Next up, was CarFit, a pre-conference workshop. CarFit is an educational program that offers older adults the opportunity to check how well their personal vehicles "fit" them. The program was created by the American Society on Aging in collaboration with AAA (American Automobile Association) and AOTA (American Occupational Therapy Association).

CarFit event at a local Fredericton arena parking lot

In partnership with these organizations, CAOT will be supporting CarFit in Canada and these introductory workshops trained our first Canadian CarFit Event Coordinators and CarFit Technicians.

Photo: Giovanna Boniface, OT (CAOT-BC), Elin Schold Davis, OT (CarFit Instructor)

The CarFit workshop was also featured in a local news piece by the CBC.

Click on video to watch news clip (1:45)

CAOT-BC Managing Director Giovanna Boniface, was trained in both of these capacities with the intent of hosting CarFit community events in BC during National Occupational Therapy month in October 2014. Stay tuned for more information about CarFit in BC over the next few months.

The opening ceremony on May 7 featured an inspiring keynote address on the health of our global community by Dr. Colleen O'Connell, MD, FRCPC. Dr. O'Connell says:

"occupation gives meaning and purpose to life, and this is why OTs matter"

"smart doctors surround themselves with OTs"

Another highlight was the Muriel Driver Memorial Lecturer, Dr. Claire-Jehanne Dubouloz, on the topic of meaning perspective transformation.

This lecture was followed by the Awards Ceremony that saw many CAOT members honoured for their outstanding contributions to advancing the profession.

Susan Bonney received the CAOT-BC Outstanding Occupational Therapist of the Year Award, while Catherine Backman received a CAOT Award of Merit. CAOT-BC congratulates both Susan and Catherine on their achievements!

Conference posters, professional issue forums, extended discussions and other sponsored sessions filled the days from May 8-10, while fun, social events kept conference attendees entertained at night.

2014 Conference Host Committee

Hats off to the conference host committee and co-convenors for their hard work to pull everything together. The "Rock the Market- Bring on the Neon" social event and COTF auction was a hit.

Rock the Market guest

Marcia Finlayson (Zebra hat and clutch winner)

Sue Baptiste, COTF auction model

Rock the Market @ Boyce Farmers' Market

Looking forward, the next CAOT conference will be held in Winnipeg, MB, from May 27-30, 2015. The conference theme is "Occupational Justice: Rising to the Challenge". So mark your calendars, and plan to join us and share your knowledge and strategies for rising to the challenge of enhancing occupational justice in our communities.