In my presidential addresses, I have emphasized that occupational therapists need to be at the table where policy and important recommendations are made. This year, I have experienced more intensively than in the past what it is like to be engaged in this kind of public service.
For example, I was appointed to the California Department of Managed Care Autism Advisory Task Force. AOTA and the Occupational Therapy Association of California successfully advocated to have occupational therapy listed in California Senate Bill 946 among the “behavioral health treatments” provided for individuals on the autism spectrum. The bill mandates that no later than July 2012, every health care service contract and health insurance policy that provides medical or surgical coverage shall also provide coverage for behavioral health treatment for pervasive developmental disorder or autism.
In conjunction with this law, our task force is charged with two goals. The first is to identify the behavioral health treatments that are scientifically based and how their outcomes are monitored. The second is to determine the definition of an “adequate network of providers” and make recommendations on the qualifications unlicensed individuals must meet for provision of these services.
At the first task force meeting last week, I was impressed by the stature of the other members of the committee. Here’s an overview of the group:
Members-at-large
· The former director of the California Department of Finance
· A federal court judge with 27 years of experience in this role
· A distinguished professor and dean of a law school
· The former assistant secretary of the California Health and Human Services Agency
Health Plan Representatives (all physicians)
· The chief medical officer for external affairs of United Behavioral Health
· The chief medical officer of Blue Shield of California
· The regional director of Pediatric Subspecialties and Pediatric Rehabilitation of Northern California Kaiser Permanente
Research Experts
· The former executive director of the M.I.N.D. Institute, who is now professor and vice chair of psychiatry at the University of California, San Francisco
· The Joseph Campbell Professor of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at UCLA-NPI-Semel Institute
· The director of the Anderson Clinic at Langley Porter Psychiatric Institute, UCSF
Advocates
· A multiple award-winning attorney, who is founder of one of the largest African-American law practices in Southern California, author of The Everyday Advocate: Standing Up for Your Child with Autism and Other Special Needs, and appears on Dr. Phil, the CBS Early Show and numerous Fox News programs
· The former Secretary of the California State Senate, who founded the support group Families for Early Autism Treatment (FEAT)
· The co-founder and president of Autism Deserves Equal Coverage
· The vice-president of State Government Affairs of Autism Speaks
I am included as a representative of treating providers. Among us are a developmental-behavioral pediatrician, a behavioral services provider who is a board certified behavioral analyst, and an occupational therapist (me!).
The task force is chaired by the director of the California Department of Managed Care. We have eight remaining meetings scheduled through August, when our report is due, and I anticipate this will be another broadening experience for me.
I would love to hear any tips you have on how I can be a highly effective member of this task force.
It has been too long since I last blogged, and I am happy to be back at it. The fall was an incredibly busy time for me, especially November and December. In that time period, I attended the AOTA/NBCOT Student Conclave in Providence, Rhode Island, gave the keynote address at the Annual Meeting of the Maryland Occupational Therapy Association, connected with two autism research foundations—the Autism Research Institute and the Organization for Autism Research—attended the AOTA/AOTF Summit in which we envisioned ways to enhance alignment of the two organizations, presented at the AOTA/AOTF Accelerating Clinical Trials and Outcome Research (ACTOR) conference, attended the AOTA Autism West Specialty Conference, and attended the National Center for Medical Rehabilitation Research Celebration.
So many events! So much activity! So much travel! Here are the special things that sparked my enthusiasm at each event:
The AOTA/AOTF Student Conclave: I was invigorated by the open discussion the students were able to have with a distinguished panel of occupational therapy leaders, including Paul Fontana, Amy Lamb, Paul Grace, Maureen Peterson, Chris Bluhm, Chris Alterio, and myself. And how thrilling it was that 80% of the more than 400 students present made the Centennial Commitment indicating they plan to maintain their AOTA membership through 2017.
The Maryland Occupational Therapy Association Conference: My keynote built on the theme of high definition occupational therapy (HD-OT) I have been discussing throughout my Presidency. This talk was the first one I presented that addressed how we can internalize a vision of ourselves as evidence-based practitioners. My spirit was ignited when a small group of attendees informally chatted with me about their takeaways from my talk. I was thrilled that they provided me with valuable input that has helped me conceptualize the Presidential Address I will give in Indianapolis on HD-OT in 3D.
Connecting with autism research foundations: This is only a piece of all the work I have been doing in the area of occupational therapy evidence-based practice and autism. It was certainly uplifting that these two organizations are interested in supporting occupational therapy intervention research related to autism and it was exciting to begin to build these linkages.
The AOTA/AOTF Research Summit: What was uplifting about this meeting was having the opportunity to share perspectives on how the two organizations are complementary. I like to envision bright futures, and, after the meeting, I began to see concrete paths to achievement of the Centennial Vision that the two organizations could take together.
The ACTOR Conference: This meeting, made possible through Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) funding, was truly inspiring—a gathering of our most seasoned scientists with those at various stages in their research career trajectory. I cherished the opportunity to share knowledge on the pragmatics, politics, and multi-faceted aspects of research programs with the wonderful attendees and, truly, saw this as a landmark event that would accelerate clinical trial and outcomes research in occupational therapy.
The AOTA Autism West Specialty Conference: I had attended the Autism East Conference and this West Coast version was equally worthwhile. What I liked most about it was getting a sense of the wide range of evidence-based practices that occupational therapy practitioners employ in the diverse settings in which they work. Also fantastic was the consumer panel—hearing about how occupational therapy had benefitted each of them in their own heart-rending words.
The NCMRR Celebration: What an event! Did you know that NCMRR has been in existence since 1991? From 1998–2002, I was on its National Advisory Board and it was lovely to see how the agency’s portfolio had grown. My key takeaway was to once again perceive the close alignment between NCMRR’s research priorities and occupational therapy’s focus on participation.
So, one would think I would have been exhausted after so much travel. But the excitement of it all is actually rejuvenating. Do let me know if you have engaged in similar, upbeat, and inspiring activities!
I have been engaged in life review lately, reflecting upon lessons learned through mentoring students and more junior colleagues. Mentoring, as you probably know, is the term used to refer to someone who imparts wisdom and shares knowledge to someone less experienced. There are ten lessons learned that I want to share with you about the process:
1. Throwing others to the wolves with a “sink or swim” mentality doesn’t work. We can’t expect people to perform beyond their capabilities.
2. My most successful attempts at mentoring involved asking mentees to “stretch,” but not too far.
3. It is counter-productive to “take over” or do the work others should and could be doing. Mentees discover just how good they are by successful achievements they thought were beyond their reach.
4. Mentees need to believe their mentors are their cheerleaders—I have come to realize being critical is very problematic.
5. Great mentors teach by example—words alone do not suffice.
6. Learning to “listen” is a skill every mentor should master.
7. Mentoring is tricky—one must remain supportive, but not dishonest, in sensitive situations.
8. Mentoring involves genuine and labor-intensive commitment, but it must not be experienced by the mentee as overbearing.
9. When done poorly, mentoring can be agonizing, when done well it is exhilarating.
10. I remain humbled thinking about how challenged I am by it, even after so many years.
I would love to hear your reflections and words of wisdom on this timeless topic.
I am in the habit of attending primarily occupational therapy conferences, so when I recently was a participant at the annual meeting of the American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine (ACRM), it seemed out of the ordinary at first—no big opening ceremony, no dancing in the aisles, far fewer participants in the plenary session than at AOTA (600 versus 6,000), and a mix of rehabilitation professionals from diverse professions.
To be honest, I was surprised and pleased to see that so many of my occupational therapy colleagues were among the mix. In fact, at a luncheon I attended comprised of a stroke networking group, not only was occupational therapist Dr. Beth Skidmore in the leadership, but I would estimate that 30% of the 100 participants were occupational therapists. We definitely were an important constituency at this meeting. Some of my takeaways included a comprehensive notebook of quality measures for rehabilitation that provide policy, provider, and patient perspectives; familiarity with National Center for Medical Rehabilitation Research (NCMRR) funded infrastructures to which all of us have access that can assist in locating appropriate measures or databases for our studies, and the knowledge that large scale randomized controlled trials (RCTs) to date indicate that, while manualized interventions in general have been shown to be beneficial compared to usual care for stroke patients, the various manualized approaches are all comparable in their effectiveness. All in all, I found the content of presentations to be outstanding. I really want to urge all of you to venture out—being in an interdisciplinary world for several days is both eye-opening and wonderfully satisfying.
I recently attended the Annual Meeting of the Occupational Therapy Association of California (OTAC) and joined in the celebration of its 35th birthday. Yes, OTAC was formally incorporated in 1976 and now, in 2012, 750 participants attended the meeting. And what a great occasion it was! As AOTA President, I presented Dr. Shawn Phipps, OTAC’s current President, with a letter conveying how pleased AOTA has been to partner with OTAC in responding to state regulation concerns. The letter noted that AOTA was particularly proud of the unprecedented joint effort on the part of OTAC and AOTA that resulted in the enactment of the California Occupational Therapy Practice Act in 2001.
I felt so proud to be present at this celebration, not only as President of AOTA, but also as a founding member of OTAC. Yes, there was a time—can you believe it?— when state occupational therapy associations in their current form did not exist. Occupational therapy in most states had neither licensure nor the organizational structure to support it, and most of us looked only to the national association for legislative leadership. How great it is that this is no longer the case and we can enjoy two professional homes—our state associations and AOTA. They constitute a vital and dynamic duo assuring that consumers who need us continue to have access to our services.
If you read my last blog, you will know that I recently traveled from New York to Washington D.C. on the Acela train. But what I did not tell you was that I was traveling to be a speaker at AOTA’s first Middle Managers Leadership Training Seminar. Now, no doubt, you are aware that for the past few years AOTA has been convening this kind of programs for “emerging leaders,” defined as those with the desire to become leaders who are new to the profession. In contrast, the middle manager group is older, more experienced, and has already ascended into leadership positions in the facilities where they work. One of the participants is now the Director of Occupational Therapy for a school district, several others are overseeing interprofessional rehabilitation programs, and others have already developed innovative programs in specialized areas such as cancer and lymphedema care. Most tended to be in their 30’s and 40’s, in contrast to the mostly 20-something emerging leaders.
I was pleased to be a member of the instructional team, which included AOTA Vice President Virginia (Ginny) Stoeffel and Nancy Blair, who had been trainers for the AOTA Emerging Leaders Program. Nancy is an extremely impressive scholar whose research has been on leadership development, and Ginny had worked under her guidance as a doctoral student. Sue Bowles, who now works for Ancillary Care Solutions but had previously been Chief of Occupational Therapy and Director of Outpatient Services at Cedars Sinai Medical Center, was the fourth instructor. It turned out we brought complementary skills to the program, were highly compatible, and had a great time throughout the experience.
But the real stars were the participants. If the middle managers throughout our profession are of their caliber, our future is in terrific hands. What a great time we had discussing their concerns: how to get more of the practitioners they supervise to see the value of joining AOTA, how to most effectively lead interprofessional teams with fairness and equanimity, how to negotiate the ever-changing power contexts in which they find themselves at their workplaces, and how to move onward in their personal leadership trajectories. I think the big take-aways for me were: (1) I learned a very concrete and accessible approach for resolving conflict; and (2) I could see that a new generation of promising young leaders is now coming into full flower and will soon take us to the next level of professional excellence.
Lately in my role as AOTA President, I have been studying the current status of the evidence in support of the effectiveness of sensory integration procedures delivered within the context of occupational therapy. I was pleased to learn that, indeed, we have made significant progress in completing and publishing the results of both single-subject design studies and randomized controlled trials. So it was serendipitous that the person sitting next to me on the Acela (Amtrak Train) was a mother of a six-year-old child with autism who had been receiving occupational therapy, much of which used sensory integration procedures, ever since he was a toddler.
At this point, now that her son is in elementary school, he is getting far less occupational therapy services, but earlier on he was intensively involved several days a week. It was fascinating to hear her particular perspective and it certainly made time fly on the three and one-half hour trip to Washington.
This mother happens also to be a financial analyst, lives in New England, and characterized herself as a parent to whom school administrators listen because she is continually advocating on behalf of her son. I have to say, in general, I was saddened to hear about the daily dilemmas she faced trying to figure out the best course of action to maximize her child’s development, with the key problem being the contradictory guidance she received from the professionals with whom she interacted—educators, physicians, psychologists, occupational therapists, music therapists, and on and on. She expressed, for example, that the physicians urged her to put her child on medications but that she was deliberating whether non-pharmacologic interventions would be a better solution. She talked about some professions being hugely critical of the approaches of others, and she said that after years of “paying out of pocket” for so many interventions, she had now become distrustful of this complicated world of practitioners. If only there had been more coherence and clarity.
The good news is that, overall, she did believe that her child had benefited from occupational therapy, and that it is definitely a service that should be well funded. Nevertheless, she did not appreciate that she was instructed to purchase a pricy weighted vest that her child refused to use; that although most therapists were supportive, at least one created huge stress in her life by being critical of her parenting; and that delivery of services was inconsistent across settings—she had experienced stellar, highly professionalized occupational therapy practices as well as practices that seemed too laissez-faire—for example, not receiving the level of documentation she expected.
I think we need to stop assuming that the therapeutic use of self while providing occupational therapy services is second nature. We must work just as hard at it as at developing technical skills. We must be mindful of the sensitive nature of our every interaction with our clients, always work hard to ascertain their needs and wants, and concentrate on trying to detect how they are experiencing our every encounter with them. We must, I believe, always be trying to empathize—to sense what they are feeling. We must take the time to learn and honor the perspectives of our clients, never being imperious or officious, and always exuding care and concern. And, of course, one of the best tools for assuring appropriate continuation of treatment is outstanding documentation!
Earlier this month, I attended the National Diversity Forum sponsored by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Disability Employment Policy. The forum was held in conjunction with the “Add Us In” Initiative spearheaded by Assistant Secretary Kathleen Martinez. You may recall I blogged about this initiative and occupational therapy’s involvement in it a few months ago. This initiative seeks to “identify and develop innovative strategies and models that increase the capacity of targeted small businesses to improve job opportunities for youth and adults with disabilities.” The kinds of targeted businesses include those owned and operated by minorities, LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) individuals, women, veterans and people with disabilities. I learned at the forum about how key elements of disability hiring differ for large and small businesses, how the benefits of diversity hiring can be better promoted, and how education and employment systems can be better coordinated.
I also was able to network with folks who are particularly effective in creating change and realizing the goals of the initiative. There was one group represented that I think is awesome—Homeboy Industries (www.homeboy-industries.org). This small business, founded decades ago and based in Los Angeles, is the world’s foremost gang-intervention organization. It has put hundreds of previously gang-affiliated individuals back to work. The organization initially made bakery items, and now has established a Homegirls Café, Homeboy Silkscreen and Embroidery, Homeboy Farmer’s Markets, and so on. (My husband John and I regularly buy Homeboy salsa and chips, which are fantastic!)
What does gang intervention have to do with occupational therapy? For the past three years, my colleagues and I have been conducting a community-based, randomized controlled trial on the effectiveness of Lifestyle Redesign® provided by occupational therapists in reducing the incidence of medically serious pressure ulcers in people with spinal cord injury. The leading cause of spinal cord injury in Los Angeles is a gunshot wound—and a majority of individuals with spinal cord injuries are, or have previously been, affiliated with a gang. So on both personal and professional levels, I am pleased that Homeboy Industries continues to be successful in achieving its mission.
The overlap in the expertise of Homeboy Industries and the key concerns of occupational therapy create wonderful synergies. Now, with the “Add Us In” Initiative, occupational therapists will be part of a consortium with Homeboy Industries and other private and public agencies. Together, we will develop a national model for creating diversity employment. This is a great opportunity to demonstrate the value that’s added when occupational therapy is included on teams that are judged by the outcomes they produce. I am thrilled we are at the table!
Last week I had the opportunity to visit the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Clinical Center in Bethesda, MD. And was I impressed! Even though I have been a member of the occupational therapy profession for 41 years, I had no idea that the Center’s many occupational therapists are fully engaged in cutting-edge research on a daily basis. For example, Rebecca Parks, who began working with children 20 years ago, was a key contributor to the development of the widely used Brief Assessment of Motor Function, Sue Robertson has been working on studies of the impact of ovarian insufficiency on quality of life, Terry Nguyen has been studying low vision issues, and Hanna Hildebrand has been engaged in research on the developmental progression in children with rare genetic disorders. Although all of these therapists carry clinical loads, everyone is involved in a research protocol. And under the leadership of Chief of Occupational Therapy Bonnie C. Hodsdon, OTR/L, the entire Department exemplifies a community of practitioner-scientists.
Now, I know that most of us are typically too burdened in our work settings to be able to be engaged in research protocols to this extent. It seems to me there were five factors that accounted for this success story:
1) The entire NIH Clinical Center has as its main purpose to provide researchers with a “shovel ready” clinical arm for implementing research proposals. Occupational therapists are key players in its infrastructure.
2) The Chief of Occupational Therapy, Bonnie Hodsdon, is a terrific leader who totally supports the research activities of the therapists she supervises.
3) One occupational therapist, Fran Oakley, OTR, has risen to assume a major leadership role in the NIH Rehabilitation Medicine Department Scientific Review Process and, therefore, can mentor others.
4) The occupational therapists on staff are hard working and genuinely committed to doing research. (I imagine this is why they sought out NIH positions.)
5) These occupational therapists have been able to demonstrate the unique contributions to the research enterprise that they can make in addressing a wide range of health concerns. Because of this success, they are clearly sought after for their expertise in functional and quality-of-life outcomes measurement and for their holistic perspective on well-being.
We can all be very proud of the work of our fellow practitioners at this facility, and I really wanted those who read my blog to know about this precious island of expertise in our profession. As an aside, I was delighted to be able to share the findings of the Well Elderly Research Program with the entire Rehabilitation Medicine Department during my visit.
I will turn 65 in September, and I can’t believe that I still love living my life to its fullest through both my academic position and my volunteer service as your AOTA President. However, between the two hats I wear, life can become hectic. For example, three weeks ago I left on a Thursday, traveled cross country to Washington, DC, to serve on an NIH Study Section, returned to Los Angeles on Friday evening (very late!), and by Saturday was off to the Gold Coast of Australia to attend the Annual AOT Conference. Four days later, I was on a plane again going from the East to the West coast of Australia (Perth) to give presentations on my research at the University of Western Australia. On Wednesday morning, I began my journey home—twenty-four hours in transit. How does one stay healthy with this schedule?
Well, I discovered a wonderful resource to help me stay fit and safely perform exercises. It is the Go4Life™ Exercise and Physical Activity Guide from the National Institute on Aging. Yesterday afternoon I put myself through the complete exercise program—strengthening, endurance, and balance exercises, as well as stretches—and this morning I have the wonderful feeling of having exerted myself with the perfect set of just right challenges. In fact, the pain I feel in my calves today is a constant reminder to me that the red muscle fiber in my legs has been effectively stimulated. I think one of the neatest aspects of this Guide is the way in which the exercise program is linked to maintaining the ability to do everyday activities. In the Guide, it is stated that “Goals are most useful when they are specific, realistic, and important to you…. Your success depends on setting goals that really matter to you” (p. 18). The exercises described are linked to abilities such as making it easier for you to vacuum, rake leaves, and make the bed, to see what’s behind you when backing the car out of the driveway, to lift bags into the overhead compartment during travel, and so on. And what is great is that you don’t need a gym in which to do them—they can be done anywhere.
Now I know a lot of you who read my blog are not even close to the age of an older person—like me! But I think the Go4Life™ Exercise and Physical Activity Guide, which is available for free, can be a wonderful resource for all of us. By the way, dance is a recommended activity for endurance and, as you know, my husband John keeps urging me to attend the dance lessons he takes (he now participates in eight or more per week). Reading the manual has convinced me to go for it and take more dance lessons, as well as make these exercises part of my customized plan for healthy living. In doing so, I will be going not only for a happier and healthier life, but also more time to be of service to our profession. Let me know what you think of the manual.
Go4Life™ is a trademark of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
It is so gratifying when one of your former students is covered in the Los Angeles Times for the outstanding occupational therapy she is providing. Renee Portenier is the occupational therapist who has been working with Emily Fennell, who underwent hand transplant surgery about two months ago after a car accident mangled her hand. In the article, a therapy session Renee is conducting with Ms. Fennell is described in detail (the paper ran a correction after initially identifying OT as PT in the photo caption). I must say I take great pride in our profession as I think about the sensitive, painstaking, empathetic, and skillful work that Renee seems to be doing with this client.
Renee is not the only occupational therapist working in this emerging area. A recent OT Practice article by occupational therapists Marie Pace and Kimberly Maguire highlighted the role of occupational therapy in the Hand Transplantation Program at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center.
And I know that each of you has a similar story of personal excellence in your role as practitioner. I’d love to hear your stories.
I recently had the opportunity to attend a conference at the Andrus Gerontology Center on “What’s Hot in Aging Research.” Some of this won’t be new to you, but I learned that demographic trends are such that, although the rate of Alzheimer’s cases is not changing, the number of people who are expected to have Alzheimer’s disease is exploding. That’s because the boomers are coming of geriatric age now! And, as you know, because of the work Dr. Laura Gitlin and her colleagues have been doing in establishing the efficacy of occupational therapy for people with Alzheimer’s disease and their caregivers, we are shovel ready to meet this societal need. Also, as the boomers become older, I learned from Dr. Margaret Gatz, Professor of Psychology at USC, that we may have some new challenges. For example, we have to think about whether boomers as they age will: 1) be prone to substance abuse; 2) show less resilience than older people in past cohorts; and 3) be more impaired because of the vascular risk factors associated with being overweight or having diabetes. We also have to wonder whether, as a profession, we will be able to meet the anticipated growing need for services. I think these issues and trends call out to us to develop the critical mass of well-qualified practitioners required. How about getting prepared!
The 2011 AOTA Conference was a blast—but it also gave me many take-aways. I would like to share them with you:
1. When Shonda Schilling, Conference Keynote, confessed that she was a bit nervous about giving her address, Curt Schilling, the famous baseball player and her husband, said, “Go big or go home!” What a quote—that’s what we all have to do!
2. In Dr. Ottenbacher’s plenary address on evidence-based medicine, I learned that in 2002 there were 1.24 million evidence-based medicine websites and in 2011 there are 13.6 million! Evidence-based medicine seems to be exponentially on the rise.
3. From the plenary address, I also learned that it was reported in The Lancet (2003) that 30-45% of patients were not receiving evidence-based care and that 20-25% of the care received was either not needed or potentially harmful.
4. From Dr. Betty Abreu’s Eleanor Clarke Slagle lecture, I was reminded that it is possible to describe in words the key elements of the therapeutic relationship, such as empathy, that significantly impact outcomes. It was truly a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to be able to hear such a scintillating lecture from one of our foremost master clinicians.
5. As a guest at the military-related ReseArch Development to Advance Rehabilitation, Reintegration, Resilience (RADAR3) meeting, I learned about the exciting projects that are being planned to demonstrate the value of occupational therapy in meeting the needs of our wounded warriors. I was surprised and delighted to learn about the considerable momentum the group sitting around the table has created toward the accomplishment of their well-thought-out research plan.
6. At the AOTF Dancing with the Stars Gala, I was reminded that I’d better get back to dance lessons with my husband John. This year’s competitors were beyond belief wonderful and I want to keep up with them. What a great occupation dancing is—it keeps you happy, physically strong, and healthy in so many ways. A great workout laden with meaning, music, and marvel.
7. From everywhere at the conference, I felt the unbridled enthusiasm of the students. And percentage wise, more students than ever were conference attendees—and this critical mass gave a special luster to every meeting, every reception, and every party. I foresee that each and every one of these emerging practitioners will attend every future AOTA conference and be there to celebrate the attainment of our Centennial Vision.
8. From the AOTPAC reception, I discovered a new aspect of myself—one that loves karaoke.
9. At the Program Directors’ meeting, I was so impressed with the caliber of our academic leadership and I remain so grateful to them for the wonderful work they are doing in educating and professionalizing our students.
10. And, finally, at the Representative Assembly I learned that despite differing opinions, occupational therapy practitioners continuously rise to the occasion by engaging in healthy and respectful debate—it is what opens us up, it is what changes us, and it is one of the key ingredients of an exciting lived experience.
The 2011 Annual Conference was certainly an exciting experience! Please share your take-aways with me.
The 2011 AOTA Conference was unbelievable. In fact, it was so invigorating and I was “flying so high” throughout it that it has taken a month for me to get back to earth and my old grounded self. In 2010, about 6,000 individuals attended the Annual AOTA Conference, but in 2011, over 7,700 did, and the conference hall was filled with high energy as we danced in the aisles before plenaries, soaked up valuable state-of-the-art information in the sessions and workshops we attended, celebrated the outstanding accomplishments of our peers, and let loose at the many parties and receptions that were embedded throughout the four days. As we march forward to achieve our Centennial Vision, our troops are amassing and pixel power is pulsating everywhere.
Occupational therapy is now also flying high—with our own special brand of professional comportment and commitment. I had the opportunity to hear from a development officer from a University who attended two health profession conferences this year—ours and another (I won’t disclose the name). He said our meeting was in stark contrast to the other: we were energized, they seemed passive. We were ebullient, they seemed desultory. We were euphoric, they seemed bland. In his eyes, the collective presence of occupational therapy practitioners was off-the-charts wonderful, as were the abundance of opportunities the conference offered.
Believe me, these days our profession has a special luster and it is because of each one of you.
One of the best things about being the president of AOTA is working with our Board of Directors. AOTA members are familiar with the voting board members, because you elected us (go to http://www.aota.org/Governance/BOD/40495.aspx for a list of current board members). But in addition to AOTA Executive Director Frederick P. Somers, the Board has two other members with a voice but no vote: Consumer Advisor Sudip Bose, MD, FACEP, FAAEM; and Public Advisor Susan Parker, MSW/MSP.
Sudip Bose was the keynote speaker at AOTA’s Annual Conference & Expo in Orlando last year. He is an emergency room physician in Odessa, Texas, and a former major in the U. S. Army. During Operation Iraqi Freedom, Dr. Bose served as a physician on the front lines of combat. His experiences ranged from treating Saddam Hussein, to caring for wounded soldiers and civilians while under attack, to earning the Bronze Star. As the sole doctor for a mobilized infantry unit, Dr. Bose provided emergency care in the streets of Baghdad, Najaf, and Fallujah and took care of thousands of American soldiers and Iraqis.
Since 2005, Dr. Bose has been raising awareness and funding for wounded veterans, particularly those with posttraumatic stress disorder and the need for assistance in community reintegration. His experience in the war-zone hospitals caring for those with catastrophic injuries has convinced him of how important it is for the public to understand the unique and critical contribution occupational therapy makes to health care. As a Board member, he has eagerly assisted in media coverage of occupational therapy by providing a physician’s view of the role and advantages of having occupational therapy practitioners on health care teams, particularly following the shooting of Representative Gabrielle Giffords. Dr. Bose believes in the power of social media to spread the word, and, as he puts it, he wants our stories to go “viral”.
We are also so fortunate to have Susan Parker serving on our Board. Her career came into focus in 1974. At that time the VA didn’t acknowledge posttraumatic stress disorder as service-related difficulty, so Vietnam veterans having trouble adjusting were coming to the community health center where she was working in Orange County, Vermont. That she cared about this gap resonates with me because my husband John is a Vietnam veteran, and at reunions of the men with whom he served and their families, we “wives” would often discuss the difficulties that come with PTSD. At the time, Susan was also seeing many system problems—young people either couldn’t get into the labor force or they had trouble staying there. She realized there was a huge need to offer community services to these individuals.
To understand both service delivery and systems, Susan obtained master’s degrees in both social work and social planning—at the same time. She was the first to do this, but as a systems thinker it didn’t make sense to her to get into social work and social planning without understanding the structure of casework.
To show how well this combination has served her, I want to list key aspects of her career to date:
- First executive director of a community planning and allocations council that determined how to allocate United Way money across a wide spectrum in New Hampshire in Vermont. She made this new council do its job, together with the community board.
- Executive director of the New Hampshire Developmental Disabilities Council, focusing on designing and building a community care system for people with developmental disabilities. She r e-built this Council and located it close to the Governor’s Office.
- Cabinet-level position with Maine’s Governor McKernan as the Commissioner of that state’s Department of Mental Health and Mental Retardation, with a charge to decrease the use of hospital facilities and establish the groundwork for community care systems.
- Appointed by then-president George H. W. Bush as the associate commissioner of the Social Security Administration’s Disability Insurance program (where she noted the disturbing trend that people were no longer going on disability mostly for back issues, but for mental health issues, because systems were not established to support them in the workplace).
- Secretary general of the world’s largest and oldest non-governmental organization in rehab, Rehabilitation International
- Recruited by the International Labor Office (ILO) in Geneva, Switzerland. to build a policy called The Code of Practice of Disability in the Workplace. ILO had a consultative model to permit the bringing in of expertise from NGOs, such as with occupational therapy, which Parker notes is well known to larger employers, because they help with the essential issue of employee retention.
- Senior executive with the Department of Labor, building a new agency that develops employment policy able to increase the recruiting, hiring, and retention of job seekers with disabilities: The Office of Disability and Employment Policy.
Susan believes work is the great equalizer, which is another reason for her career-long support of occupational therapy. She believes so many people should be able to return to work, but they and their employers don’t know how to keep them there. She currently works on labor issues covering both mental health and veterans, focusing on entering and re-entering the workforce. She points out that employment is a real issue among people in mental health recovery, and she is working on creating new policies to assist them. Even among members of the work force who are on extended sick leave, their most frequent complaint is mental health related, such as anxiety and stress. A lot of people need help in this area, and occupational therapy practitioners can provide that help.
I am so thrilled that Dr. Bose and Susan Parker are helping put occupational therapy in high definition. Be sure to stop by the Member Resource Center after the Opening Ceremony for Conference on Thursday, April 14, to meet members of your AOTA Board of Directors!
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