Country members/Belgium/news

COTEC NEWS FROM BELGIUM September 2008.

The collaboration between the schools and the national and regional associations continues to be very efficient:

° The leaflet on “Ergothérapie today and tomorrow” has been printed in our two main languages French and Dutch. This leaflet is aimed at the promotion of our profession among the public: potential clients and doctors.

° Job descriptions in different fields are being established with the wish to work on a national level. It is rewarding to answer members’ inclination to have such a tool for the profession.

° Masters in Occupational Therapy are being developed in cooperation with the universities in both regions. We hope that the suggested programmes will be accepted by the government.

 ° Our young dynamic groups are full of projects for 2008 and among them:

• The wish to let the public know about the profession through a specific website,

• A survey concerning the job situation of occupational therapists in Belgium

° Our National bulletin (AEB) will from this year be replaced by a “year book” published at the end of 2008 in French and Dutch.

° Our collaboration between Belgium and neighbouring countries continues. The French speaking countries of Europe are planning some new common projects that we are looking forward to share in the next news.

° Websites of both Regional Associations have been updated, adding links and names of experts. These are real tools of active communication with the members.

The websites have become a common way of exchanges with our members and they are revised regularly. For the latest happenings, please consult:

 www.ergobel.be  National Association FNBE-NBFE

www.ergotherapie.be  Regional Dutch-speaking Association-VE

www.ergo-ae.be  Regional French-speaking Association-AE

February 2007

2006 has been a very special year for the Belgian Occupational Therapists.

We have been celebrating many events:

• 50 years of our first school of Occupational Therapy “Haute Ecole Ilya Prigogine”, previously called ISCAM. On this occasion, a symposium was organized to give an overview of the profession and to compare the “old education system” with the ECTS requirements.
  Education is well developed in Belgium as we have 15 schools approved by WFOT, 8 in the Dutch-speaking region and 7 in the French-speaking region, for a total population of 10 million inhabitants.

• 35 years of the regional associations: The Vlaams Ergotherapeutenverbond (VE) set up a symposium on “Autonomy and Participation”. It was another opportunity to promote Occupational Therapy in Belgium presenting flashbacks of OT  in the past, its evolution and vision for the future. Please refer to the VE website for more information.

• 10 years of EDITh and GRApE: regional groups developing home care. EDITh celebrated this anniversary with the VE and it was an opportunity to involve politicians to inform them about our profession.

The collaboration between the schools and the national and regional associations has been fruitful and a new leaflet on “Ergothérapie today and tomorrow” is being printed in our two main languages French and Dutch. This leaflet is aimed at the promotion of our profession among the public: potential clients and doctors.

 Collaboration between Belgium and the Netherlands or France: The links between the Belgian Dutch-speaking OTs and the Netherlands are the milestone of the collaboration of Belgian Dutch-speaking authors to the publication in the Netherlands on new developments of Occupational Therapy coordinated by Astrid Kinebanian and Mieke Legranse.

Exchanges between France and Belgium are also very productive for our members: exchange of information, reduced fees for continuing education, support for the “Premières Journées européennes et francophones d’Ergothérapie” in Paris on June 4-5, 2007.

 Masters in Occupational Therapy are being developed in cooperation with the universities in both regions. More information will be available on the web.

 A job description for Occupational Therapists working in nursing homes has been prepared by VE and approved by the inspection services in charge of nursing homes. Other job descriptions are being in preparation.

 Websites of both Regional Associations have been updated, adding links and names of experts. Their design has been refreshed and there is a new logo for AE. These are real tools of active communication with the members.

The web sites have become common way of exchanges with our members and they are revised regularly. For the latest happenings, please consult:

 www.ergobel.be            National Association FNBE-NBFE

www.ergotherapie.be     Regional Dutch speaking Association-VE

www.ergo-ae.be              Regional French speaking Association-AE