President’s Message

Dear Colleagues,

The World Federation of Occupational Therapists celebrates its 60th Anniversary in 2012.

This will be a special year, as we celebrate the achievements of the organisation and recognise the work that the WFOT undertakes and the value it brings to the profession.  During the year, we will work to increase awareness of the WFOT and its 60th Anniversary to all stakeholders.  This will include the development of a range of resources to promote the WFOT, World OT Day and the occupational therapy procession.  We will also work to establish the WFOT's presence on social networking sites and online activities.

In 1951, a group of committed occupational therapists from ten countries met to discuss the establishment of a world body to represent occupational therapy.  In 1952, the constitution was established with the objectives:

• to act as the official international organisation for the promotion of occupational therapy;
• to promote international cooperation among occupational therapy associations, therapists and other allied professional groups;
• to advance the practice and standards of occupational therapy;
• to help maintain the ethics and to advance the interests of the profession;
• to facilitate the exchange of information;
• to promote the education and training of therapists; and
• to hold international congresses.

The WFOT owes much to these pioneers of the organisation for their vision and commitment in establishing the Federation to further the profession in the world arena.  The objectives they established at that time still hold true today.

The WFOT has an established profile in the world health community today which enables it to meet these objectives and to add an external dimension of service to others.

The Federation's relationship with the World Health Organisation (WHO) continues to evolve and develop.  The WFOT's participation is more interactive than previously and has grown from responding to documents and issues to inititating content and actions.  The WHO has a number of ongoing agenda items and Human Resource Development, Health Systems and Mental Health are targeted areas by the WFOT.

It is an objective of the Federation to be able to financially support part of a WHO global health initiative which has the potential for the profession to share its knowledge and skills in a large multidisciplinary forum.

Even in these times of financial restraint, health care services in many countries continue to grow thus increasing the demand for health professionals globally.  There is a critical shortage of human resources particularly in mental health services.  Many governments in their strategies to address these needs are increasing accress to occupational therapy services.  With occupational therapists returning from education abroad and the presence of expatriate therapists, a number of countries are applying for membership in the WFOT.  Being part of the WFOT gives these small groups professional supports and opportunities for distance mentoring.  The Federation is taking a more active role in assisting occupational therapists wishing to undertake development work and have their own financial support to connect with a host country or educational programme.  These are short term visits taking many forms.

As a result of the growing need for health human resources, more ministries of higher education have approved unitersity based educational programs in occupational therapy.  The WFOT's educational quality assurance package of a self study document, guidelines for curriculum design and construction and a self appraisal component leading to an offsite peer review process of the curriculum documentation, is the only one of its kind in health professions.  The international recognition of an educational programme is a major accolade for a unitersity and serves as a powerful recruitment measure.  The WFOT is very aware of the importance of maintaining the educational standards and is currently reviewing of all its educational documents and policies.

All of the aforementioned WFOT activities and many more of its exciting projects underway are enhanced through the WFOT's increasing use of social media tools.

The new website is enjoying many more hits and its improved functionality is a great asset in communicating with all of you.  I encourage you to keep the feedback coming and let us know what you are doing.  Working together, the impact of our activities is so much greater.  The outputs can lead to improved sustainability and greater visibility of the profession's contributions of health and social services.   By harnessing our collective efforts there is greater potentital to improve lifestyle satisfaction and quality of the people who receive our services.

2012 marks the WFOT's 60th anniversary and the beginning of the next decade of anticipated unprecedented international professional growth, development and recognition and each and every one of us has a part to play.

E Sharon Brintnell
President