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Hi everyone, Voting opens today in the AOTA General Elections. I am so excited about the idea of serving our Association as the Next Vice-President. Please log on to www.aota.org and vote! I am honored to consider my two opponents in this election as close colleagues and friends. The great thing about...

I am very excited to have been approved by the Nominating Committee as a candidate for the office of AOTA Vice-President for 2012 to 2015! I would like to take this opportunity to tell you about myself as an occupational therapist and as a long-time volunteer for AOTA and the profession. Over the...

I have visited a couple of occupational therapy programs in the last few weeks in my role as the Chairperson of the AOTA Ad Hoc Committee on Health Care Reform to talk about current reform initiatives, the potential impacts on occupational therapy and what students can do to become informed and play...

One way I stay abreast of news about health care and health care reform is to sign up for daily email notices from organizations such as the Kaiser Family Foundation, the Robert Woods Johnson Foundation and from America's Health Insurance Providers (AHIP). A recent AHIP Smartbrief included information...

Recently the new President of the UT MD Anderson Cancer Center, Dr. Ronald DePinho, shared his vision that we will cure 5 cancers in the foreseeable future. Now THAT is a vision worth supporting! I believe it to be true; when you have a strong, clear, aspirational vision of the future it is easy to rally...

Today I testified along with a colleague to the "National Institute of Medicine's Committee on Social Security HIV Disability Criteria." This committee has been meeting for a year and is charged with making recommendations for how the disability determination "listings" for HIV...

What a great day today! One of the roles that I have fulfilled for AOTA recently is to serve as Chairperson of the Ad Hoc Committee on Health Care Reform Implementation. I have worked with AOTA national affairs staff and with a great group of volunteers to examine how health care reform will impact...

So it has been a little while since my last post. The Spring was long and intense and after Orlando I had many other things to catch up on.........and now my term as Speaker of the Representative Assembly is over in just a little over a week. This last week the Board of Directors met at AOTA Headquarters...

Well, if you have any concerns or pessimistic thoughts about the future of occupational therapy I have the cure! Plan now to attend or volunteer for next year's Student Conclave and you will sleep MUCH better! There are almost 600 students here and their energy, enthusiasm and optimism are amazing...

I am off to Washington D.C. today to join over 300 other occupational therapy practitioners and students to promote the profession and help make occupational widely recognized and powerful in the halls of Congress on Monday!. I am lucky to be able to travel to be there in person, but if you cannot...

Leading up to and after our recent election, I have enjoyed debating various issues with friends and acquaintances on Facebook. Through that process and now in the last week it has become clear to me that there are a lot of myths and misunderstandings about what is included in the Affordable Care Act...

My blogging hiatus is over! Now that the national election is settled and the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (AKA as "Obamacare") has little chance of being repealed or replaced the question becomes, "What now for occupational therapy?" No matter what you thought about...

I spent a thrilling weekend in Washington DC and Bethesda Maryland along with the other committed members of the AOTA Board of Directors for the AOTA "Capital Hill Day" and the fall Board of Directors' meeting. On Thursday I flew into Washington early and had the opportunity to visit...

The AOTA Ad Hoc Committee on Health Care Reform Implementation is gearing up for annual conference in Indianapolis! If you are attending conference and are interested in hearing the latest updates, look out for the Town Hall Meeting on Tuesday Afternoon April 26th. The Ad Hoc is preparing a short PowerPoint...

I have to admit that I am a political junkie! During our recent election cycle I visited CNN, the Huffington Post, Fox News, and most of the major poll sites not once but several times a day. I also spent a lot of time discussing and debating the candidates and the issues with friends and acquantances...

When voting starts on January 15 th please consider my experiences and the skills and knowledge that I will bring to the table to help the AOTA Board of Directors achieve its priorities as your new Secretary! Each year the AOTA Board of Directors identifies and shares it priorities for the next fiscal...

The last few weeks have been busy as I have spent part of my time in several activities related to occupational therapy and health care reform. As the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act is rolled out some of the challenges and opportunities for occupational therapy are becoming more apparent...